In the exhibition “Nigeria. Mémoires d’Afrique” currently on show in Verona at the MAC – MeglioranziArtCollection, one of Maurice Mbikayi’s photographs is titled Masks of Heterotopia, taking up the name of his solo exhibition organized in 2018. The word “heterotopia”, introduced by structuralist philosopher Michel Foucault in his essay Des Espaces Autres (1967), describes spaces that belong neither to the real nor the imaginary world, representing a deviation from traditional spaces and a subversion of their logic. This concept is central to an exhibition that is not just a collection of tribal objects, but a critical exploration of the way we approach African history. The museum space itself is a heterotopic since it extracts objects from their original contexts, creating an environment of its own.
‘Alusi’ shrine figure, Nigeria, Igbo, wood, pigments (kaolin), early 20th century, ex Belgian Collection, photo courtesy MAC – Meglioranzi Art Collection
Modern art collecting as a social practice along with the concept of art sauvage dates back to the early 18th century, to the epoch of the French Enlightenment when museums and public collections crucial to national identity were created[1]. But the particular development of art collecting took place at the beginning of the 20th century when Cubists, Surrealists and other European artists during a phase of anthropological rediscovery approached new forms of expression and aesthetics, introducing the concept of art nègre[2]. And it was Jacques Kerchache to operationalise an expression most used today that is art premier or art primitif[3]. The premises of collecting and museum practices make it complex to distinguish the indigenous vision of African cultures from their European representation, without risking a reductive or exoticizing perspective. Nigeria. Mémoires d’Afrique invites us to explore the “memories” about Africa not as mere collectibles but as living traces of distant cultures through a selection of sculptures and masks of primitive Nigerian art placed in dialogue with contemporary works of art created by African artists.
Safâa Erruas, “Territories”, 2017, images of human eyes, broken glass and cut paper on cotton paper
30 x 42 cm, unique Piece, photo courtesy Officine dell’Immagine
In this context, Moroccan artist Safâa Erruas uses pierced white paper – a symbol of purity and peace – to conceal sharp objects like glass or needles, thus expressing the invisible pain of oppressed peoples. In the collage Territories (2017), hundreds of eyes gaze back from a nameless territory, a universal symbol of conflict zones. In Breaking News (2017), fragments of broken glass, nearly invisible from afar, are interwoven with journalistic phrases, urging us to consider how historical memory is often a constructed narrative.
Maurice Mbikayi, “Mask of Heterotopia 1”, 2018, c-print, 100 x 150 cm, edition of 7, photo courtesy Officine dell’Immagine
Congolese artist Maurice Mbikayi’s visual language is marked by his use of e-waste, particularly computer components symbolizing the overload of consumer society. With these materials, Mbikayi addresses themes of forced technological development and accelerated capitalism, closely linked to Western colonialism. His works reveal a critical form of kitsch aimed at modernity.
Esther Mahlangu, “Ndebele Pattern”, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 70 x 100 cm, photo courtesy MAC – Meglioranzi Art Collection
In contrast, the painting by Esther Mahlangu, an artist of the Ndebele tribe, proposes an alternative logic: that of the gift. In Ndebele culture, to which Mahlangu belongs, art is not a product for exchange but a means to transmit knowledge and collective values. Ndebele traditional motifs embody the gift economy[4], where the focus is not on profit or accumulation but on cultural continuity and generosity..
‘Agbogho Mmwo’ mask with costume (detail), Nigeria, Igbo, wood, pigments, fabric, early 20th century, ex Belgian collection, photo courtesy MAC – Meglioranzi Art Collection
The use of decorative patterns is typical of many African cultures. Another example in the exhibition is a traditional Igbo costume used in the Agbogho Mmuo rituals, which celebrate youth and feminine beauty. In the Igbo language, the term ụkpụrụ̄ refers to both form or structure as design concepts and to structure as foundation or essence. Ụkpụrụ̄ designs appear in traditional textiles, ceramics, and in the architecture of Igbo communities, where these patterns are closely tied to their cosmology. The inevitable consequence of the heterotopic nature of a museum space, as mentioned at the beginning, is the alteration of an object’s meaning once it is removed from its original context. Various 20th-century museology critics[5] argue that, in the process of museification, sacred objects risk becoming profane and subverting their original meaning. The exhibition invites the visitor to ponder this – if even the “gift” could become commodified.
Anastasia Pestinova
[1] Antonio Saura, “Arti selvagge”, Je suis l’autre, ELECTA, 2018.
[2] Patricia Leighton, “The White Peril and l’art nègre: Picasso, Primitivism, and Anti-colonialism”, Art Bulletin. v. 72, no. 4. December 1990. 609–630.
[3] Malika Bauwens, “Que sont précisément les ‘arts premiers’?”, Beaux Arts, 2023 (https://www.beauxarts.com/grand-format/que-sont-precisement-les-arts-premiers/).
[4] Marcel Mauss, “The Gift: Forms and Functions of Exchange in Archaic Societies”, Routledge Classics, 2002.
[5] For example: Jaques Derrida, “Donner la mort”, Paris, Métaillié-Transition, 1992; Giorgio Agamben, “L’uomo senza contenuto”, Quodlibet, 1994.
Info:
VV. AA. “NIGERIA. Mémoires d’Afrique”
Artists: Safaa Erruas, Maïmouna Guerresi, Maurice Mbikayi, Esther Mahlangu
10/10/2024 – 23/11/2024
MAC – MeglioranziArtCollection
Verona, Corso Sant’Anastasia, 34 Verona
www.meglioranziartcollection.com
is a contemporary art magazine since 1980
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