A Basement Full Of Masks

Now this was an interesting experience. Heading slightly outside of the planned excursions, I ventured into the Barakat Gallery in Mayfair. After speaking to the owner of the gallery, Mr. Fayez Barakat, and hearing a wonderful anecdote about a meeting with Picasso, I was invited into his basement. Rather than run in fear, I decided to take him up on the offer and was greeted with an incredible collection of African artefacts, densely sprawled around the room. Honestly, I think I have found the Holy Grail of mask collections here and my future home - this was only furthered by the claims by Mr. Barakat that he is the owner of the largest collection of African masks in the world. The week is barely half way gone and this will no doubt be the highlight of my travels.

To elaborate on the Picasso anecdote, I was told that a young Mr. Barakat, eminent art collector at the time, encountered the legendary artist one day in his father's gallery. Pablo Picasso had come in with the Mayor of Jerusalem, raving about African art and the trips he had recently been on. Shocked and confused, Mr. Barakat cut him short and claimed, 'how can you talk of this African art when I have such wonders as ancient Egyptian and Greek artefacts for you to see. These are the greatest examples of art in history'. Picasso responded, 'it is true that these are great cultures, but in Africa people are born artists. They are taught to paint, to draw and to sculpt in the developed world; in a tribe, you can only create art as a birth right and you live it every day of your life, you engage with the spirits'. The next day Mr. Barakat was invited to Picasso's show, only then realising the identity of the person that he had been talking to. It was that day he began his collection of African art.

Horniman Museum

Second on my adventures was the Horniman Museum, which I have to say was a really fascinating place. It's tiny, but packs in exhibitions which are at the very least as good, if not better than the Natural History Museum. They have a fascinating collection of African artefacts and tremendously detailed information on the subjects. I think I found out more specific details here than in all 4 of the books I have read so far. This has contributed to my research into the meaning and designs of masks and I shall soon develop an in depth guide which will inform the next stage of this project.

Transport Museum

So this is our travel week, designed to get us out of our dingy, lugubrious houses and into the bright, exciting world. My first stop this week was at the Transport Museum, where there is an exhibition on maps and art at the time of writing. I saw this as research into possible communications of locations of tribes that I am looking at creating. I like the idea of representing a designated tribe's territory through an illustrated map, maybe including warring tribes and other landmarks. The lower image is a very interesting style that I may experiment with in the near future.

Tribe (The Book, Not The Series)

I found a nice quote in this book regarding how you define a tribe; "a tribe is best defined by its members rather than by outsiders - a group of people can be said to belong to the same tribe if they regard themselves as having the same customs and language, if they are descended from the same group of ancestors, or if they have a sense of political affiliation that reaches beyond the family unit."

It's interesting to look at the tension of groups that properly fulfil the criteria of being a tribe, yet refuse to be associated with the term, such as the amish. But what is behind just a term? It's the overall connotation that tribes have. There's a somewhat negative and superior attitude towards tribes, which is even documented as far back as julius caesar, who decided he could steamroll all the other cultures and bring them under his own, more developed society. 

As for design opportunities, can i use the previously defined criteria to denote modern tribes and create tribal values, ceremonies and artworks for them? Also give them tribal names and territories, maybe even initiations? For instance people who vote labour, freemasons etc.

The Adi Tribe

More on the Adi tribe that was shown in the BBC documentary. It was fascinating to see how their values fit into daily routines. For example, mithuns, a cow/water buffalo, are a living currency for the tribe, they are not milked or slaughtered for meat. The only justified reason for killing these mithuns are as a sacrifice to the spirits, which feature prominently in their beliefs. If the spirits are not appeased, they apparently spread illness. If a tribesman gets ill they go to a shaman. The shaman looks at a leaf which tells them what is wrong and what spirits to engage in a ritual.

While all this is happening, there is a spread of christianity in the adi tribes, which comes as a result of christian missionaries coming to the area at various points in time and helping illnesses get better with massages and simple medicine. As a result, some of the people now follow the religion as it has proven more successful at 'protecting' them. When it comes to ceremonies, young people have started doing different dances and songs because of the influence of Bollywood movies. The one redeeming thing about all this modernisation, is the fact that there is a village council of everyone, who decide on matters, even crime. Changes from the outside world have come at the request of villagers, not outsiders.

When it comes to a design project and analysing this research, the interesting tension comes in this interaction between the tribe and the outsiders. It is decided by the tribespeople, yet it is the fault of outsiders that any modernisation has happened in the first place. What would our society be like if everyone collectively decided on what was given to us and what wasn't?

Tribe (The Series, Not The Book)

I have begun watching various series and films regarding tribal ceremony and culture. The first of which is Tribe, a BBC documentary in which the clumsy yet affable host, Bruce Parry, lives within a community for a month, gaining a deep understanding of their values and everyday life. This also highlights the tension between these somewhat ancient cultures and the influence modern society is having on them.

The first tribe visited were the Adi in the Himalayas. IT was interesting to see this community, which was half way between their traditional beliefs and adapting to the modern world they have been exposed to. Amazingly, the Indian government has actually closed this area off from outsiders, perhaps as a cautionary measure to make sure these people and their culture isn't completely corrupted.

Western Society Without Ritual

'The redemption of Western society depends on the rediscovery of meaningful ritual. Ritual is at the heart of true communities. It can be an antidote to money-power and corruption. Above all, it honours the integrity to the individual's right to self-expression and self-fulfilment.'

Malidoma Some