EXHIBITION WHITE MAN, BLACK MAN Representations of

EXHIBITION
WHITE MAN, BLACK MAN
Representations of Westerners in 20TH Century African Art Atelier Martine Aublet
16 June - 9 October 2016
Europe has neither exclusivity nor a
monopoly of the view of the Other. This
statement seems obvious today, but we
should not forget that over the last few
centuries this view was one of the
prerogatives of the West, and legitimised
a unilateral vision of the world.
Nevertheless, although Europe imposed
its vision of the Other, its representatives
and ambassadors were also observed and
analysed before being imitated, admired,
criticised or mocked.
Colonist on horseback, Baoulé, Ivory Coast, first half of
20th century, Wood, pigments
© Alain Weill / Photograph: Alberto Ricci
Presented in 2015 at the Fondation Pierre
Arnaud in Switzerland, the exhibition
WHITE MAN, BLACK MAN tackles a subject
that has not been explored since the 1950s:
the representation of the white man in
Africa. From 16th June 2016, the Musée du
Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac has chosen
to offer its visitors a brand new
perspective on the relationships between
the West and Africa by presenting part of
that exhibition, with 90 objects and
photographs from the 20th century.
While Western sailors, soldiers, missionaries and traders had been travelling up and down
the coasts of West Africa since the 16th century, their hosts, whom it would be wrong to
consider as passive onlookers, were also assimilating the consequences of this intrusion.
In other words, while all-conquering Europe was familiarising itself with the figure of
the African, the African, from his side, was beginning to integrate this pale-skinned
other into his own symbolic and artistic universe.
The installations in the Atelier Martine Aublet are designed with support from the Fondation
Martine Aublet under the aegis of the Fondation de France.
From Sapi ivories to “colonial” sculpture, there
are many different versions of the white man
and his attributes in African art, just as there is a
broad spectrum of works ranging from the simplest
reproduction to objects that embody true poetry.
WHITE MAN, BLACK MAN is an invitation to
discover the blended art, known as “colonial”
art, too long neglected in the history of African
art and by institutions but which in fact has
proved to be unexpectedly rich. This is not “art
for the tourist” but rather the wealth of artistic
production that is part of a history of African art
still in motion, and which is continually
reinventing itself. WHITE MAN, BLACK MAN shows
the need to get rid of a primitivist interpretation of
African art that is nowadays completely out of
date.
Stake with a head wearing a colonial pith
helmet, Lobi, Burkina Faso, 20th century ©
Alain Weill / Photograph: Alberto Ricci
Mask wearing a colonial pith helmet, Igbo, Nigeria,
First half of 20th century
© Alain Weill / Photograph: Alberto Ricci
Akhan Missionary (?), 20th century, Ghana, wood,
© Alain Weill / Photograph: Alberto Ricci
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ROUTE OF THE EXHIBITION
The installation WHITE MAN, BLACK
MAN brings together a collection of
ninety 20th century sculptures and
photographs in six thematic displays:
- Strength and Irony: although
Western
man
is
sometimes
represented ironically in order to
criticise his imperialism, he can also
appear as a powerful figure
-
The Price of Fame: relating
to the notion of identity in
“colonial” statues, are mentioned
the
representations
of
real
Europeans like Queen Victoria,
General de Gaulle, and even Brigitte
Bardot
Bust of a Woman with an Aeroplane on her Head, West Africa, 20th
century © Alain Weill / Photograph: Alberto Ricci
- Serving the Faith: a
display of the various aspects of the
Catholic presence in Africa through
statues of missionaries, crucifixes,
etc.
-
On the Altar of Modernity: the figure of the white man represented through
consumer objects, means of transport (bicycle, car, etc.)
-
Masterpieces: presentation of eight sculptures and masks considered to be the
major pieces of “colonial” art.
-
Accumulations: around thirty sculptures show the variety of “colonial” art
production
Curator: Nicolas Menut, anthropologist, Head of Documentary Acquisitions at the Musée
du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac.
Curator of the exhibition Homme blanc, Homme noir. Impressions d’Afrique [White Man,
Black Man. Impressions of Africa] presented at the Fondation Pierre Arnaud (Lens,
Switzerland) from 27 June to 25 October 2015.
Nicolas Menut is also the author of L’Homme blanc. Les représentations de l’Occidental
dans les arts non européens (Editions du Chêne, 2010).
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ATELIER MARTINE AUBLET
“We wish to keep a space for lighter forms of expression - less restrictive, but also freer, more
personal and occasionally more iconoclastic.”
Stéphane Martin, President of the Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac
A modular space on the Main Collections level
This 170 m² area is designed as a contemporary cabinet of curiosities and can present around 30
works. Every year, the Atelier Martine Aublet presents an average of three installations that
highlight the museum's new acquisitions, contemporary non-Western photography, an invited
external collection, the collections of the Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac or a carte blanche
offered to contemporary artists, well-known personalities or the museum's partner cultural and
scientific institutions.
These specific projects offer freedom and flexibility of presentation and rapid response times,
making it possible to create unexpected events in line with the museum's current projects and
with major national and international events.
Since it opened in 2012, the Atelier Martine Aublet has presented 10 installations:
LA DAME DU FLEUVE [LADY OF THE RIVER] (5/6/12 – 7/10/12). Designer: Philippe Peltier
PLÂTRE OU PAS? [PLASTER OR NOT PLASTER?] (13/11/12 – 27/01/13). Designer: Yves Le Fur
LE RIRE, L’HORREUR ET LA MORT [Laughter, horror and death], painted video club posters and
images of death in Ghana (26/02/13 – 19/05/13). Designer: Germain Viatte
« J’arrive, j’aime, je m’en vais » ["I arrive, I love, I leave”]: PIERRE LOTI, L’AMBIGU EXOTIQUE
(25/06/13 - 29/09/13). Designer: Claude Stéphani
PHOTOQUAI RESIDENCIES (13/01/13 – 26/01/14). Designers: Céline Martin-Raget; Christine Barthe
« MODESTES TROPIQUES » [MODEST TROPICS] – Hervé Di Rosa (04/03/14 - 18/05/14)
PROPAGANDA, Les Femmes dans la Révolution [PROPAGANDA: Women in the Revolution]. Posters
from the Vietnam Women's Museum in Hanoi (06/24/14 to 09/28/14) Designer: Christine Hemmet
JOYCE MANSOUR, Poétesse et collectionneuse [Poet and Collector] (18/11/14 - 01/02/15) Designer:
Philippe Dagen
L’ANATOMIE DES CHEFS-D’ŒUVRE [ANATOMY OF MASTERPIECES] (10/03/15 - 17/05/15).
Conceptor: Olivia Bourrat and Christophe Moulhérat
MARC COUTURIER, L’ALEPH (23/06/15 – 20/09/15) Carte blanche for the artist
LE COMTE DES NUAGES, MASANAO ABE FACE AU MONT FUJI (03/11/2015 – 17/01/2016) Curator:
Yoshiaki Nishino
This space bears the name of Martine Aublet in homage to the museum director and advisor to
the museum's president on sponsorship matters, who died prematurely on 3 April 2011.
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THE MARTINE AUBLET FOUNDATION
In addition to the Atelier Martine Aublet, several areas linked to the museum's activities have
been chosen by the Martine Aublet Foundation for its efforts:
- awarding grants intended to help young researchers to undertake field-based training and
to carry out research within the fields of ethnology and art history, both European and nonEuropean. These scholarships, amounting to 15,000 euros each, have benefited 38 young
researchers from across the whole world since their creation in 2012. They have been
awarded following an international call for entries.
- the Martine Aublet prize is awarded each year by the Martine Aublet Foundation (in
collaboration with the Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac) to known scientific figures who
wish to transmit their knowledge to a wide audience in the fields of ethnology, non-European
history and art history and whose work is published in France.
The first prize, for an amount of 20,000 euros, was awarded on 1st October 2012 to
anthropologist Francoise Héritier, Honorary Professor at the Collège de France, to
commemorate her work and career; second prize was awarded March 3, 2014, to Maurice
Godelier for his book “Levi-Strauss” (2013, Le Seuil); the third prize was awarded, on 16
November 2015, to the historian Emmanuelle Loyer for her book Lévi-Strauss (2015,
Flammarion).
Martine Aublet Foundation: www.fondationmartineaublet.com - [email protected]
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PRACTICAL INFORMATIONS
WHITE MAN, BLACK MAN
Representations of Westerners in 20th Century African Art
16 June - 9 October 2016
Atelier Martine Aublet
#quaiBranly10ans
Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac
37 quai Branly
75007 Paris
+33 (0) 1 56 61 70 00
www.quaibranly.fr
Visuals available to the press: http://ymago.quaibranly.fr – Access provided on request.
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