DAN, GUNYEGE HEADDRESS, Liberia
The Hamill Gallery of African Art announces its third special exhibition,
"Dan Sculpture".The Dan people, from NE Liberia and westem Ivory
Coast, produce masks, figures and artifacts of great beauty, power and spint.
This exhibit presents a wide vanety of work from the tnbe's rich tradition.
Masks in the show range in style from the idealized realism and elegance
of the Deangle feminine masks and the round eyed Gunyege racing
masks, with their dark and shiny patinas, to the aggressive, cubistic, encrusted
creations of the neighboring Guere tnbe. In size, they vary from
miniature "passport" masks representing the spirit of larger masks,
to great, elaborate headdresses incorporating fiber, fabric, feathers, cowrie
shells, metal, bone, beads and fur.
There are masks from tho Poro society, the men's secret orgnization
with ritual, social and political power. Several Wunkirmian. the
large figurative spoons or feast ladles awarded to outstanding women, and
standing female portait statues commissioned as status symbols, pay tribute
both to individual Dan persons of achievement and to their artistic skills
and heritage.