Traditional Art from the. Colonies. (Imperial Institute.)
"AFRICA and Oceania have their Old Masters even as Europe has, and it is to honour them, and the peoples among whom they arose, that this exhibition is presented," says Mr. William Fagg in the catalogue of a remarkable collection that is consistently interesting and stimulating. The conscience of a genuine inquirer may, indeed, have a happier passage among these so-called " primitives " than among this year's modern sculptures at Battersea. Living in the present year and age, he would indeed be a pretentious ass if he tried to lock up his sense of humour in a sort of mental cloakroom before going to the Imperial Institute. His is the harder but not impossible task of making the best of two worlds. The same carving may not only tickle his sophisticated humour by its naiveté but also genuinely stir him by the power of its mystic symbolism. The difficulty lies with the beholder who is caught in the shackles of his " civilisation" ; undoubtedly he may feel, rather in the same way as the thoughtful reader of Lewis Carroll sometimes feels, that he is playing with fire ; but, where a contemporary sculptor can strike him as a self-conscious poseur, the native artist will always retain his respect. It is inevitable that comparisons should be made between our own aesthetic traditions and the art of the tribesmen ; as Mr. Fagg properly recommends, these should not be pressed too far. What is offered here is really an extension of the successful little exhibition held at Bedford Square two years ago. The King has lent the ivory leopard, spotted with copper studs, which was presented to Queen Victoria after the Benin punitive expedition in 1898 ; the Oni of Ife has sent even more of his impressive bronze heads and figures than he lent to the British Museum in 1949.; and Colonial Governments, private collectors and museums have combined to ensure a fully representative display. The exhibits cover a wide range of the emotions: two wood-carvings of mother and child from the Yoruba have a piercing, harrowing quality, yet the small brass weights of the Ashanti, near-by, are purely charming, with their birds and insects, tortoises and snails. The catalogue, apart from Mr. Fagg's contribution, is unfortunately in a bit of a muddle.
DEREK HUDSON.
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