Fowler Museum Art of the Lega, showing from Oct. 28
through March 10, is now on display at the Fowler Museum of
Cultural History.
By Jinjue Pak
Daily Bruin Contributor
Art captures the life of the mountainous and isolated Central
African community of the Lega.Â
Masks, human figures, hats, spoons, and other instruments reveal
this African culture at the “Art of the Lega”
exhibition held at the Fowler Museum of Cultural History.
While the artwork varies in purpose, material and design, they
all function to reveal something about the Lega culture that still
exists today, its ways and its people.
Ceremonial horned masks, for example, tell viewers of a shrewd
and clever owner while also revealing the importance of status in
the community.
Masks inhabit much of the exhibition’s space and energy.
While their designs are simplistic, their expressions animate the
pieces and make them very real. The wooden masks are carved flat,
and the designs of human faces usually consist of slits, ridges and
holes as representations for the eyes, nose and mouth. These simple
designs are duplicated with every mask, though each takes on a
character of its own, exuding new and different emotions.
The rectangular and circular variations in the eyes, as well as
the mouth, function to give each mask the energy of its
creator.
These creations are often adorned with long beards made of plant
fiber or fur, and less frequently, with missing features ““ or
facelessness ““ which suggests a hidden meaning existing in
their cultural beliefs and traditions.
Interestingly, the masks are not created for the face, but to be
attached on arms and the sides of the head. For this reason, the
masks vary in size and serve ceremonious and sacred purposes.
Faces are further duplicated onto human figures that highlight
the exhibition. Carved out of wood and ivory, these small figures
reflect the high status and nobility of their owners. Much like the
masks, the figures are simple, with only grooves to define
features, limbs and other designs. Â They also, however,
embrace creativity and symbolism. Some figures are bodiless, have
multiple faces or missing limbs and features.
In contrast to the simplicity that characterizes the masks and
figures, the design of the hats are very intricate and colorful.
Beads, buttons, shells, animal teeth and other ornamental objects
are dexterously interwoven in these creations. Plant fibers and fur
are often braided into thin and numerous tresses that imply a
lengthy time commitment and much care.
Hats also stratify the the owners and are designed separately
for the male and female. Men wear hats with braids sewn over the
hat’s surface, while women don hats that take on phallic
shapes; both indicate a uniting of genders that is customary to the
Lega tradition.
The art and creativity of the Lega culture even extends to
ordinary utensils like spoons, pegs and stools. Spoons especially
appear to be of great significance.
The Lega people devote special care in designing the handles,
sometimes in the shape of a human body and many times, split at the
center by a large hole.
It is no wonder that the collection in the Lega exhibition comes
mainly from the possession of the upper classes.
Their sacred and intricate designs afford unique value to these
art forms, which manifest the traditions and beliefs of the Lega
culture.
ART: “Art of the Lega: Meaning and
Metaphor in Central Africa,” will run through March 10, 2002
at UCLA’s Fowler Museum.