TRIBAL ART TRAFFIC

Description

“Tribal Art Traffic” traces the movements of hundreds of thousands of masks, statues, amulets, shields, pieces of cloth, utensils and weapons of tribal cultures overseas and within the North Atlantic societies in colonial and post-colonial era. While the focus is on relatively small Netherlands and their vast territories overseas, the Belgian Congo and the Netherlands Indies, developments related to the three neighboring colonial powers, Germany, France and the United Kingdom are also covered, as well as links to the United States. This book traces the ways and places through which the tribal objects circulated and continue to circulate: commercial colonial outposts, missionary stations, attics and basements, living rooms, museums, flea markets, monasteries, houses auctions, artists’ studios, private collections and galleries. In the second part of the book, dealers, collectors and curators talk about their most recent experiences with moving objects. This chronicle of European taste, commerce and desire draws the emergence of a Western market for tribal art in the twentieth century, including aspects such as the commercialization of sacred objects, authenticity and its simulations, the “art” controversy or “artifact”, and cultural goods.