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Testo in inglese.

Museum for African Art, New York.
Snoek-Ducaju & Zoon, Gent.

With contributions by E. Bruyninx, E. Cameron.

Design and sculptural innovation meet spiritual power in a collection of art from Angola, Mozambique, and Guinea Bissau. Culled from the African collections of the National Museum of Ethnology, Lisbon, In the Presence of Spirits features approximately 142 objects. These objects are endowed with either spiritual or secular power. They range from masks and figures, to carved combs, pipes, stools and chairs. This catalogue marks the first time that many of the artworks will be on public view outside of the museum.

Highlights include important figures from various Kongo peoples, an extraordinary ensemble of stone funerary figures from the Solongo and Mbali, and a spectacular group of carvings from the Bidjogo peoples, ranging from monumental masks representing sharks, buffaloes and birds, to delicately finished figural spoons. Other impressive objects come from the Chokwe, Songo, Yaka, Nkanu, Zombo, Suku, Matapa, and Ngangela peoples, as well as the Dan from Ivory Coast, the Baga from Guinea, and the Fang from Gabon.

The large-sized colour illustrations reveal the rich variety and sculptural inventiveness of these cultures. The scholarly written, yet highly readable texts allow for an examination of each folk's spiritual practices.(CA)