Maconde tribal art, adapted, reinvented and traded to tourists in several countries, paved the way as some of the first contemporary art from the African continent.
In Northern Mozambique, the Maconde people originate from the Mueda plateau and live on either side of the Rovuma River. A wood carving tradition gained them recognition as master carvers of ebony (Diospyros ebenum) or Ivory for expatriates in the 1930s making masks, figures and chess sets, for the tourist market across Mozambique, Tanzania and Kenya.
Triangular filed teeth, scarification practices, tattooing and wearing labrets ( lip plugs), gave them a ferocious appearance. These customs initially arose, as a means to repel and deter the avarice of slave traders operating in Northern Mozambique and Southern Tanzania, intent on procuring sufficient quota for their ships lying off the coast.
The technical finesse, skill and aesthetic appreciation of these above disciplines grew from a rich artistic tradition and well into the 1960s, the Makonde still cut finely angled black tattoos comprising a series of chevrons, lines and diamond shapes on the face and body, inked with vegetable carbon called dinembo. At this time incisions were made with a razor blade and the tattoos acknowledged as a badge of fortitude and courage, believed to enhance virility.
Dinembo designs were commemorated in mapiko initiation ceremonies, by inscribing or adding finely rolled beeswax in similar patterns, to the surfaces of wood helmet and body masks, used in these masquerades. Sculpture was taught to youngsters on an ad-hock basis prior to this initiation, so they could carve their own masks. These are soft wood hollowed out, detailed with finely stylized features and worn on top of, or partly over the head with the dancer peeking out of the mouth area. Masks portrayed various characters, some with heavy lidded slanting eyes. Others with hats or shaved hair embedded on the mask for a realistic effect.
The “rap” recited during these masquerades satirized village life, lampooning authority with acerbic social comment. These mapiko events are still competitive, vibrant, full of ingenuity and invention with one group vying with another. During the Portuguese Colonial era, these ceremonies became increasingly politicised and were co-opted by Frelimo freedom fighters in order to spread socialist ideology and propaganda.
According to Bortolot. A. “…Frelimo intellectuals in Tanzania, adopted socialism as an alternative to the Colonial capitalism of the Portuguese and.. the feudal tribalism of pre-colonial societies”.
Like the masquerades, the struggle agenda appropriated artistic production: Carved figures, depicting policemen armed with batons and whips arresting or beating civilians were used as visual propaganda of Colonial abuses.
62 guerrilla fighters previously Maconde sculptors, formed a carving co-operative at Cabo Delgado in 1966. This co-operative among others, innovated new themes inspired by the revolution and their output was sold to entrepreneurs in Tanzania to sustain the war effort.
In September 1975, Mozambique attained liberation from Portugal. The new Frelimo government now discouraged ethnic scarification, tooth filing, lip splitting traditions in favour of “national unity”. Mapiko masks carved at this time display a lack of these previously salient features.
The change in subject matter also affected other sculpture production. Visiting dignitaries from North Korea and Russia were presented with the new black wood carvings of figurative busts representing Lenin, Stalin and Marx, an appropriation of European socialist iconography and a digression from the aesthetics of Mozambique heritage.
But civil war between Frelimo and Renamo freedom fighters ensued in Mozambique from 1977-1992, with violent atrocities on both sides, exacerbated by widespread famine. Conflict refugees fled to Tanzania and Kenya resorting to their traditional carving skills to make a living. The irony being that the artistic production used to fund the war effort, was also used to re-establish their tattered lives.
Sculptors adapted their work, becoming more professional about marketing and clientele. Selling well to tourists in Tanzania were large scale pieces of monochrome wooden sculpture blackened with shoe polish when ebony wasn’t available.
These depicted interlocking contorted figures set in sinuous openwork designs in what was called the shetani style. They represented groups of twisted demonic beings from Maconde mythology but one might speculate were also distilled from the subconscious horror, amputations and atrocities of war.
( Mozambique had the highest ratio of landmines in the world at that time)
George Lilanga, an artist situated in Dar es Salaam, further innovated these forms by depicting these creatures with modern accoutrements and technology, creating figures of flaccid debauchery. Covered with enamel paint, the startling effect might be construed as an incisive comment on contemporary life.
Paintings, using a similar shetani iconography and style, strengthened the marketability of this contemporary art genre and were sought after by collectors across the globe looking for a new fresh vision.
Back in Mozambique, innovations of a different kind occurred.
At the cessation of civil war, the price of AK-47s fell, being traded for the price of a loaf of bread. Several artists in Maputo capitalized on this opportunity, turning weapons of war into unique items of furniture reinforcing the impression of Mozambique’s role as a country of vibrant artistic vision. Displays of this type of work, funded by art projects, is on show in the Sainsbury collection at the British Museum.
To be continued in part 2 entitled: Architecture and contemporary art in Mozambique.
