1
00:00:40,160 --> 00:00:42,549
(People chattering)
2
00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:52,070
New Guinea. The masks of guardian spirits
on the Sepik River.
3
00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:56,793
(Chanting, people chattering)
4
00:00:59,360 --> 00:01:02,909
(Man wailing, drumming, flute playing)
5
00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:08,438
British Columbia. The cannibal birds
of the Kwakiutl Indians.
6
00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:17,514
(Drumming, jangling)
7
00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:22,071
West Africa.
The secret mask society of the Dogon.
8
00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:28,955
0nce, each tribe inhabited
its separate world.
9
00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:33,750
Today, the boundaries are disappearing,
and European man has crossed them all.
10
00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:36,434
(People ululating)
11
00:01:37,320 --> 00:01:39,550
(Man) 2,500, 800.
12
00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:44,760
3000, 200, 500. 3,800, 4000,
13
00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:47,752
4,200, 4,500.
14
00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:52,277
London, Sotheby's auction rooms
and a wooden figure from New Guinea,
15
00:01:52,360 --> 00:01:55,238
that was once part of a sacred flute.
16
00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:58,278
At L5,500.
17
00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:02,433
On my right, then, at L5,500.
18
00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:07,037
It's a big important sale.
19
00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:10,510
Dealers and collectors have come
from all over Europe and America.
20
00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:14,673
0n offer are traditional tribal sculptures
made by Pacific Islanders,
21
00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:17,274
American Indians and Africans.
22
00:02:17,360 --> 00:02:22,115
For the first Fang figures lot 186, erm...
23
00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:26,079
L1,000 bid, L1,000.
24
00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:32,030
1,000. 1100. 1200. 1300. 1400. 1500.
25
00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:34,839
L1500.
26
00:02:34,920 --> 00:02:36,239
1600.
27
00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:40,279
1700. 1800. 1900.
28
00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:44,629
2,000. L2,000 pounds now.
29
00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:48,713
200. 2,400, 600.
30
00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:51,234
2,800, 3,000,
31
00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:54,073
3,200, 400.
32
00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:56,674
L3,400.
33
00:02:56,760 --> 00:02:59,832
At 3,600. 3,800.
34
00:02:59,920 --> 00:03:01,990
4,200.
35
00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:06,596
At L4,200 now, on my right, 4,200.
36
00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:09,274
4,500. 4,800.
37
00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:13,478
5,000, 200. 5,500, 800.
38
00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:15,357
6,000, 500.
39
00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:17,670
7,000, 500.
40
00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:19,955
8,000, 500.
41
00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:24,311
9,000.
42
00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:25,833
500.
43
00:03:26,800 --> 00:03:30,236
9,500. 10,000,
44
00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:34,438
L10,000. LAt 10,000.
45
00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:38,433
It's at the back of the room. 500. 10,5...
46
00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:41,956
11,000. at L11,000 now.
47
00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:45,157
At the back of the room at L11,000.
48
00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:51,439
- Well, it's lovely, it's an act of love.
- And she has her bracelet.
49
00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:54,557
The objects sold at Sotheby's
will go all over the world,
50
00:03:54,640 --> 00:03:57,677
though not one will go back
to the people who actually created it.
51
00:03:57,760 --> 00:03:59,796
Some will go to wealthy museums
52
00:03:59,880 --> 00:04:03,156
where they will be exhibited
not as ethnographic curios
53
00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:05,834
but as important works of art.
54
00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:09,276
And some will go to collectors
like Lester Wunderman in New York.
55
00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:12,955
0ver 20 years, he's assembled
the most important private collection
56
00:04:13,040 --> 00:04:15,076
of Dogon sculpture in the world.
57
00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:18,311
For him, these alien objects
have a greater fascination
58
00:04:18,400 --> 00:04:22,109
than anything produced
in New York, America or Europe.
59
00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:26,113
The first Dogon piece I ever saw
stopped me in my tracks.
60
00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:29,636
I didn't even know who the Dogon were
and I had seen a lot of paintings,
61
00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:31,358
and seen a lot of art.
62
00:04:31,440 --> 00:04:34,398
And I came upon
this little piece of carved wood
63
00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:39,349
and it communicated to me
in a way that nothing ever had before.
64
00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:43,877
And something...
it must have taken some part of me
65
00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:48,351
because I became insatiable
to know who made it, who carved it,
66
00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:51,477
why did they carve it
and how did they feel about it?
67
00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:56,190
And I began to study about the Dogon
and I went there of course.
68
00:04:56,280 --> 00:04:59,352
And then I began to look at
Dogon sculpture everywhere.
69
00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:03,513
And I guess I've seen almost every piece
that's available for seeing.
70
00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:08,037
And the connection was passionate
from the very beginning.
71
00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:13,433
What appeals to me is not aesthetics
as we understand aesthetics in our eye,
72
00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:15,351
but the vitality of the sculpture.
73
00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:17,908
You can't look at one of these,
74
00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:22,437
except that you realise
that this really has a role in the life, er...
75
00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:26,877
of the people and the society...
it belongs to them, it comes from them.
76
00:05:28,120 --> 00:05:31,237
What about that piece?
Is that a particularly fine piece, do you think?
77
00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:33,834
Yeah, this is really unique and one of a kind.
78
00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:38,038
This, we know of no other Dogon piece
exactly like this.
79
00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:41,874
This round body, and of course these arms
used to be complete.
80
00:05:41,960 --> 00:05:45,669
But, as you can see,
the head has been hollowed out by time,
81
00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:49,150
it's been eaten by termites,
which has stopped now.
82
00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:51,037
But that's probably quite old
83
00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:54,590
and, er, the termites have been at it
for a long time.
84
00:05:54,680 --> 00:05:57,877
Of course, we stopped that.
Preserve it by having it.
85
00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:03,114
In a way, it's one of the answers to people who
say, "Why don't you leave the art in Africa?"
86
00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:06,397
In the first place,
I didn't find this in Africa.
87
00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:10,029
Secondly, I think, had it stayed in Africa,
it would be quite eaten up by now.
88
00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:16,998
The civilised world's appetite
for the uncivilised world's art is ravenous.
89
00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:20,152
Its demands are even felt in Korogo Village,
90
00:06:20,240 --> 00:06:22,196
deep in the heart of New Guinea.
91
00:06:22,280 --> 00:06:24,236
These masks of guardian spirits,
92
00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:27,676
detached from their costumes
of basketwork and leaves,
93
00:06:27,760 --> 00:06:29,716
are much sought... after by collectors.
94
00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:35,158
An old one in the salerooms might easily fetch
three or four hundred pounds or even more.
95
00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:38,073
So traders have already been up to Korogo,
96
00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:41,197
and the Korogo sculptors
are now starting for the first time
97
00:06:41,280 --> 00:06:45,637
to carve not just for their own use but for sale.
98
00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:52,517
At the moment, they're still carving masks
to the old traditional patterns.
99
00:06:52,600 --> 00:06:55,398
But already the shrewder among them
are beginning to realise
100
00:06:55,480 --> 00:06:58,552
that they're working for an uncritical market.
101
00:06:58,640 --> 00:07:02,599
In the past, they carved for people
who knew the meaning of every symbol,
102
00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:05,035
who appreciated the subtleties
of the shapes
103
00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:07,588
distilled and refined over generations
104
00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:10,831
and who could see when a piece
was sloppily conceived
105
00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:12,751
or carelessly finished.
106
00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:16,037
But few traders could have
comparable knowledge or insight.
107
00:07:16,120 --> 00:07:18,873
Most are concerned only with quantity.
108
00:07:18,960 --> 00:07:20,712
They'll buy all they can get.
109
00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:24,713
So why waste time on refinements
that the customer can't appreciate?
110
00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:27,075
Today in the cult house at Korogo,
111
00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:31,915
where once only half a dozen sacred masks
were kept hidden away from prying eyes,
112
00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:37,358
50 or 60 are laid out on the floor,
awaiting prospective buyers.
113
00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:53,912
The other side of the Pacific, Hawaii.
114
00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:56,833
0nce this was a Polynesian kingdom,
115
00:07:56,920 --> 00:07:59,957
but Europeans have been coming here
for 200 years
116
00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:02,873
and the process that is just beginning
in New Guinea
117
00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:05,155
is here approaching its end.
118
00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:07,276
(# Hawaiian folk song playing)
119
00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:48,795
(Woman speaking Hawaiian over PA)
120
00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:52,429
(Woman over PA) Welcome to
Tavana's Polynesian spectacular.
121
00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:56,911
All the songs and dances of Polynesia
that you witness tonight on stage,
122
00:08:57,000 --> 00:09:00,549
have been carefully chosen
and largely researched
123
00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:05,998
so that everything that is presented
is presented in the light that it was first seen.
124
00:09:11,080 --> 00:09:13,230
The announcer's claim is a bold one.
125
00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:17,836
Guitars and ukuleles didn't come to Polynesia
until the 19th century,
126
00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:21,390
and the essence of Polynesian dances
was originally poetry,
127
00:09:21,480 --> 00:09:24,916
to which the dance movements
were simply an accompaniment.
128
00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:28,356
But poetry is boring
to people who don't speak the language,
129
00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:30,715
so poetry has disappeared.
130
00:09:33,440 --> 00:09:35,590
This particular dance comes from Tahiti.
131
00:09:35,680 --> 00:09:40,071
You don't have to be a Polynesian expert
to understand this message.
132
00:09:41,680 --> 00:09:46,754
But it's all that is left of a rich range of dances
that the island once possessed.
133
00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:51,709
Some dignified and subtle, some witty,
some aggressive and dramatic.
134
00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:55,156
All but this one ignored or lost.
135
00:10:03,760 --> 00:10:06,957
Hawaii's capital, Honolulu, is a tourist town,
136
00:10:07,040 --> 00:10:09,395
one of the holiday centres of the world.
137
00:10:09,480 --> 00:10:11,835
Surfing was the sport of the Hawaiian kings
138
00:10:11,920 --> 00:10:16,710
and today surf enthusiast flock here
to ride the spectacular breakers.
139
00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:20,839
0thers come to try and catch a glimpse
of the Polynesian Island paradise
140
00:10:20,920 --> 00:10:23,115
that lives in everyone's imagination.
141
00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:25,998
And there are plenty of people
to cater for them.
142
00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:31,552
Hawaiian tiki charms, although tikis are Maori
and have nothing to do with Hawaii.
143
00:10:31,640 --> 00:10:35,269
Mugs with the grinning fangs
of a Hawaiian god,
144
00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:38,875
made not in Hawaii but in the Philippines.
145
00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:43,397
Everywhere you're offered souvenirs
with highly authentic... sounding names.
146
00:10:44,560 --> 00:10:50,032
They come in all shapes and sizes...
lamps, candles, key rings...
147
00:10:50,120 --> 00:10:55,114
and this is a bottle opener,
and on its back is a label which says,
148
00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:57,430
"The Hawaiian god of happiness.
149
00:10:57,520 --> 00:11:01,229
"He is a cuddly little imp,
he loves to be touched.
150
00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:05,950
"Rub his tummy and it makes him happy
and it makes you happy too."
151
00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:08,873
All pure invention by the tourist trade.
152
00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:12,873
There never was a god of happiness
in ancient Hawaii,
153
00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:15,394
and this little plastic knick... knack
154
00:11:15,480 --> 00:11:21,476
is what has become of the once terrifying
image of Kukailimoku,
155
00:11:21,560 --> 00:11:25,997
the great Hawaiian god of war,
the eater of land.
156
00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:30,916
(Chanting)
157
00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:32,956
(Drumming)
158
00:11:46,640 --> 00:11:50,235
But in some places,
people are fighting to preserve their traditions
159
00:11:50,320 --> 00:11:52,629
in as pure a form as possible.
160
00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:55,314
This dance is being held in Ksan,
161
00:11:55,400 --> 00:11:59,439
an Indian village in British Columbia
dedicated to the propagation
162
00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:05,117
and where necessary the resurrection
of the arts and skills of the Gitxsan Indians.
163
00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:07,634
(Chanting and drumming)
164
00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:22,038
All kinds of skills are practised at Ksan.
165
00:12:22,120 --> 00:12:25,999
The technique of weaving traditional blankets
was totally forgotten.
166
00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:28,548
Ksan heard of an enthusiast in 0regon
167
00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:31,757
who had worked out how to do it
by unravelling one.
168
00:12:31,840 --> 00:12:33,876
She gladly passed on her knowledge,
169
00:12:33,960 --> 00:12:38,158
and today, blankets are once again
being woven here.
170
00:12:38,240 --> 00:12:40,834
Walter Harris, once a building contractor,
171
00:12:40,920 --> 00:12:42,831
decided he wanted to carve.
172
00:12:42,920 --> 00:12:46,310
So, he consulted an anthropologist,
who had studied museum pieces,
173
00:12:46,400 --> 00:12:51,758
and worked out the principles of design
intuitively followed by the old sculptors.
174
00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:53,910
Now he carves masks and poles,
175
00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:59,279
which, while they're full of his own invention,
still conform to the traditions of his tribe.
176
00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:03,436
I asked one of the group
who founded Ksan, Polly Sargent,
177
00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:07,115
whether you needed to be an Indian
to make good Indian sculpture.
178
00:13:07,200 --> 00:13:10,829
People are people.
The only thing I do think is that the people
179
00:13:10,920 --> 00:13:13,878
have a special feeling for wood.
180
00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:19,478
They're good carpenters, or 90 per cent of them
are good carpenters,
181
00:13:19,560 --> 00:13:21,516
and they understand how to handle wood,
182
00:13:21,600 --> 00:13:24,797
and of course that's what we have
excelled in here is the wood.
183
00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:28,668
(David) So the fact that the artists
who are working here are all Indians,
184
00:13:28,760 --> 00:13:31,479
is of course deliberate but not essential.
185
00:13:31,560 --> 00:13:33,915
(Polly) I don't think so.
(David) Yeah.
186
00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:36,833
(David) Why were all these poles and masks
187
00:13:36,920 --> 00:13:40,276
carved in the old traditional times?
Why were they done?
188
00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:45,593
They were done so a great chief could, er...
189
00:13:45,680 --> 00:13:50,629
say this piece is mine, this land is mine.
190
00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:54,395
When he put up his pole he said, um...
191
00:13:54,480 --> 00:14:01,158
"This is my pole, and because on that pole
you see the one... horned goat,
192
00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:04,869
"and the territory
in which that one horned goat was found
193
00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:09,238
"belongs to me and to my family
and not to you."
194
00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:11,912
(# Woman singing Gitxsan song)
195
00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:22,710
Perhaps one of the reasons
why Ksan has been so successful
196
00:14:22,800 --> 00:14:26,554
is that the things made here
are bought not only by white visitors
197
00:14:26,640 --> 00:14:31,430
but by the Indians themselves
and used for their original purposes.
198
00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:35,752
0ld people draw solace from hearing
once more the chants of their youth.
199
00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:37,876
And the young see in the old dramas
200
00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:40,997
a way of recovering their pride in being Indians,
201
00:14:41,080 --> 00:14:45,232
a chance of stating their identity
in the face of the ways of the whites
202
00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:47,515
that threaten to swamp them.
203
00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:50,910
(Chanting, rhythmic rattling, drumming)
204
00:15:14,240 --> 00:15:18,916
The outside world has had little influence
on this parched, poor land.
205
00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:23,118
This is the southern edge of the Sahara...
arid and hostile.
206
00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:27,352
Why should any strangers
want to come and settle here?
207
00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:30,512
Its only inhabitants are the Dogon.
208
00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:33,478
Most of their villages
are far beyond the reach of roads.
209
00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:35,516
They're built entirely of mud,
210
00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:40,230
each rectangular flat... roofed house
accompanied by a thatched granary.
211
00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:42,880
The fact that their sculpture, like their buildings,
212
00:15:42,960 --> 00:15:45,793
has remained largely unaffected
by the world beyond,
213
00:15:45,880 --> 00:15:48,075
has made it of particular fascination,
214
00:15:48,160 --> 00:15:53,280
and it was to study the art that anthropologist
Hans Guggenheim first came here.
215
00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:58,229
But he soon became deeply concerned with
the problem that dominates the Dogon, drought.
216
00:15:59,320 --> 00:16:01,993
This part where we are standing now
217
00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:05,595
is filled with water at one time of the year,
218
00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:10,196
it is inundated, because when we say
that there is no water here,
219
00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:17,277
what we mean is that the water
that comes down during the rainy season
220
00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:21,273
in huge downpourings,
221
00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:24,318
disappears after a very, very short time.
222
00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:36,839
(Hans) When I first heard about
the terrifying problem of drought
223
00:16:36,920 --> 00:16:41,232
that had struck West Africa
as well as the Dogon country,
224
00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:45,233
it occurred to me that
we would have to look for a solution.
225
00:16:45,320 --> 00:16:49,677
And I thought could one not develop a granary
with modern technology
226
00:16:49,760 --> 00:16:54,231
that would make it possible
for people to store rain water.
227
00:16:54,320 --> 00:16:58,279
(David) He worked out a way
of lining the inside of these granaries
228
00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:02,956
with chicken wire plastered with cement,
which would turn them into giant cisterns,
229
00:17:03,040 --> 00:17:06,157
and he persuaded the chief of one village
to try it.
230
00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:11,268
But before work could begin, the gods
had to be consulted by means of an oracle.
231
00:17:11,360 --> 00:17:13,510
(Men speaking quietly)
232
00:17:22,200 --> 00:17:27,877
An elaborate grid was drawn in the sand,
full of symbolic patterns.
233
00:17:29,120 --> 00:17:34,399
During the night a fox had trotted over it,
attracted by small pieces of bait.
234
00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:39,429
If his foot had trodden on certain symbols
it could mean that it would be disastrous
235
00:17:39,520 --> 00:17:41,670
to start building a water granary.
236
00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:45,716
(Chatting quietly in Dogon)
237
00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:56,918
(Man) Ca c'est...
(Hans) Ca c'est les greniers d'eau.
238
00:17:57,000 --> 00:17:58,956
(Man speaking in Dogon)
239
00:17:59,040 --> 00:18:01,679
- Is it OK, Hans?
- (Men chatting quietly)
240
00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:05,199
- Do they say we can go on?
- We can go on.
241
00:18:05,280 --> 00:18:07,236
Happily all is well.
242
00:18:08,240 --> 00:18:12,711
Custom also demands a sacrifice
before the building begins.
243
00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:14,756
If such traditions are neglected,
244
00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:17,877
the people would certainly
have no confidence in the project.
245
00:18:17,960 --> 00:18:20,872
Indeed, the builders
might not dare to start work
246
00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:23,155
for fear of the consequences.
247
00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:34,032
The priest goes into the shrine to pray,
248
00:18:34,120 --> 00:18:38,989
while blood, the essential libation,
soaks into the shrine.
249
00:18:54,840 --> 00:18:58,071
So the experimental water granary was built.
250
00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:01,277
The village craftsmen
understood exactly what was required.
251
00:19:01,360 --> 00:19:05,717
The cistern was so sited that rainwater
from all the surrounding flat roofs
252
00:19:05,800 --> 00:19:08,997
would drain into it, channelled through pipes.
253
00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:13,870
But could a granary of mud lined with no more
than cement strengthened with chicken wire
254
00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:16,110
contain such an immense weight of water?
255
00:19:16,200 --> 00:19:18,668
Would it not burst?
256
00:19:18,760 --> 00:19:22,469
Hans Guggenheim's American experts
had assured him that it would hold,
257
00:19:22,560 --> 00:19:24,835
but there was still a lot of doubt.
258
00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:47,233
The building was topped with a cap of thatch,
so that when it was finished,
259
00:19:47,320 --> 00:19:49,959
the cistern looked just like a normal granary.
260
00:19:50,040 --> 00:19:53,191
And that was particularly important
to Hans Guggenheim.
261
00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:55,999
(Hans) I call this an invisible technology.
262
00:19:57,160 --> 00:20:01,756
Because I wanted to make sure
that these granaries would not...
263
00:20:01,840 --> 00:20:07,233
interrupt the beautiful flow of architecture
that we find in Dogon villages.
264
00:20:09,080 --> 00:20:15,792
All their life revolves around the granary,
their daily activities, their work in the fields,
265
00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:18,348
the collecting of millet.
266
00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:22,911
If the granary isn't filled with grain,
the people starve,
267
00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:26,197
and so naturally they, er...
268
00:20:26,280 --> 00:20:28,396
they try to beautify it
269
00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:35,431
and to emphasise the place
where grain goes in and where grain goes out.
270
00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:40,435
And, er, that is why we have
these beautiful Dogon doors
271
00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:43,398
that have been carved over centuries.
272
00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:50,268
Many of them have been bought up
by tourists and foreigners
273
00:20:50,360 --> 00:20:52,237
who've come by collectors
274
00:20:52,320 --> 00:20:55,278
and are now in the museums.
275
00:20:55,360 --> 00:20:58,352
But they still try to maintain their tradition,
276
00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:02,035
they still attempt to carve locks
277
00:21:02,120 --> 00:21:06,989
- and to give meaning to these buildings.
- Mmm.
278
00:21:07,080 --> 00:21:13,110
And so I felt that it would be important to also
have a door carved for this particular granary
279
00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:17,910
and for all the granaries, the water granaries,
that would be built subsequently.
280
00:21:26,880 --> 00:21:32,034
Blacksmiths have supernatural powers
and a special relationship with the gods.
281
00:21:32,120 --> 00:21:35,669
None but they may carve masks or doors.
282
00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:40,515
The local smith, after considerable deliberation,
agreed to do the job,
283
00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:45,116
and there was much discussion in the village
as to what symbols he would decide to carve
284
00:21:45,200 --> 00:21:50,752
on a door of a granary that was to contain
not millet, like any other, but water.
285
00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:03,515
Hans Guggenheim
believed that this one door
286
00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:05,989
could be of great importance to his project.
287
00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:09,152
A new technology with potentially huge benefits
288
00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:13,950
can, in fact, seriously damage
a complex society like the Dogons.
289
00:22:14,040 --> 00:22:17,191
If it does violence
to the people's view of the universe,
290
00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:22,070
if it seems to flout the decrees of the gods,
it may either be totally rejected
291
00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:25,596
or, if forced upon them,
undermine the people's faith
292
00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:27,830
and upset their society.
293
00:22:27,920 --> 00:22:32,516
Just as he knew it to be essential
that the correct consultations and sacrifices
294
00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:34,670
were made before work started,
295
00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:38,309
so he believed it invaluable for the whole work
to be concluded
296
00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:41,358
with a piece of carving by the blacksmith.
297
00:22:41,440 --> 00:22:46,719
But that in itself could also have an effect on
the sculptor he had originally come to study.
298
00:22:46,800 --> 00:22:49,314
If the smith produced a new design of door,
299
00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:52,710
it could start a new artistic tradition
in the village.
300
00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:03,954
And it was a new kind of door.
301
00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:06,156
Beneath the line of ancestor figures,
302
00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:10,279
which traditionally stand guard on doors
made in this particular village,
303
00:23:10,360 --> 00:23:12,635
he had introduced a new element,
304
00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:17,396
a frieze that told how this first ever
water granary came to be built.
305
00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:21,996
How a goat and two chickens were taken
to the shrine and there sacrificed.
306
00:23:22,080 --> 00:23:26,756
And how the fox had trotted over
the sand oracle and foretold success.
307
00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:43,597
And finally, to give the ultimate proof
of the confidence and support of the village,
308
00:23:43,680 --> 00:23:48,879
the men of the secret mask society
came to dance around the new cistern.
309
00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:51,269
(Chanting and whooping)
310
00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:01,516
(Drumming)
311
00:24:07,360 --> 00:24:09,669
Three months later, the rains came again,
312
00:24:09,760 --> 00:24:12,320
the cistern filled to the brim and held.
313
00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:16,154
It could be the beginning of a change
that could transform their lives,
314
00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:18,276
give new impetus to their art
315
00:24:18,360 --> 00:24:22,558
and yet not weaken the traditional structure
of their society.
316
00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:24,949
(Drumming and chanting)
317
00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:45,591
There is a desert as harsh and as unfriendly
as the Sahara up in the far north.
318
00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:48,797
The Arctic, a desert of snow and ice.
319
00:24:48,880 --> 00:24:51,599
There too men somehow manage to live,
320
00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:53,750
and there too, in conditions so severe
321
00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:57,674
that there can be little time
for inessentials, they carve.
322
00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:02,038
Since they had to carry all their belongings
with them on their long journeys over the ice,
323
00:25:02,120 --> 00:25:06,159
it's not surprising that their sculptures
traditionally were very small.
324
00:25:06,240 --> 00:25:08,549
Most of them were of walrus ivory.
325
00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:10,995
Here is a little walrus,
326
00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:13,036
a seal, a whale,
327
00:25:13,120 --> 00:25:15,793
and another seal that's been skinned.
328
00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:17,757
But tiny though they are
329
00:25:17,840 --> 00:25:21,310
their form is extremely subtle,
and perhaps that comes from the fact
330
00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:25,473
that the Eskimos' eyes must be
miraculously attuned
331
00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:30,475
to the very tiniest variation in shape amongst
the ice floes
332
00:25:30,560 --> 00:25:33,313
that might betray the presence of a polar bear
333
00:25:33,400 --> 00:25:36,312
or a seal that they're hunting.
334
00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:38,675
Most are clearly functional.
335
00:25:38,760 --> 00:25:41,035
This is an adze
336
00:25:41,120 --> 00:25:44,908
engraved and carved with a mysterious face.
337
00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:49,118
And here another one
with the figure of a snow owl
338
00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:52,237
and two strange figures crouching above it.
339
00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:57,519
It seems almost certain that carvings
of this kind had some sort of magical purpose.
340
00:25:57,600 --> 00:26:01,912
This is a spear straightener
in the form of a crouching caribou,
341
00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:06,994
and on it engraved lines of caribous
and hunters.
342
00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:13,158
But some are much more mysterious.
343
00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:16,232
These are swimming geese perhaps,
344
00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:19,153
but then some have human faces.
345
00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:21,800
And here is a strange seal figure.
346
00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:25,395
Perhaps these were counters
in some game,
347
00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:28,950
or maybe they were part
of the apparatus of a magician.
348
00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:33,477
Whatever they are, they're part of a tradition
which stretches back, unbroken,
349
00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:35,596
for 2,000 years.
350
00:26:36,520 --> 00:26:40,035
But then in the 1950s things changed.
351
00:26:40,120 --> 00:26:45,752
Suddenly the Eskimos began to carve
large, heavy pieces out of stone.
352
00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:50,518
And this was the man who brought about
that change... Jim Houston,
353
00:26:50,600 --> 00:26:55,435
in 1948 a young Canadian artist
who was on his first visit to the arctic,
354
00:26:55,520 --> 00:26:58,717
travelling and painting among the Eskimos.
355
00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:02,793
I made a drawing of a person
and the man indicated to me that he wanted it,
356
00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:05,474
in the Eskimo language,
which I did not speak at that time,
357
00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:10,315
and so I very reluctantly tore out that page
of drawing and gave it to him.
358
00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:13,358
And a little while later
he came and opened his hand
359
00:27:13,440 --> 00:27:15,590
and he revealed to me a small caribou,
360
00:27:15,680 --> 00:27:19,832
a little stone carving of a caribou
with inset ivory eyes, just about that long.
361
00:27:19,920 --> 00:27:22,514
But I was absolutely shocked. I mean, it...
362
00:27:22,600 --> 00:27:27,037
it seemed to me to have exactly the feeling
of all the ancient things,
363
00:27:27,120 --> 00:27:29,714
it had the best qualities of primitivity in it.
364
00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:33,349
Er, later on...
That man's name was Neoamiluk.
365
00:27:33,440 --> 00:27:38,389
And later on he showed me two others
he offered me in exchange for some drawings.
366
00:27:38,480 --> 00:27:44,271
And, er, so at that instant I felt if this is...
367
00:27:44,360 --> 00:27:48,990
if this is real, if this can go on, if...
unless he's some special kind of genius
368
00:27:49,080 --> 00:27:52,470
and unlike other people,
369
00:27:52,560 --> 00:27:56,758
there is some sort of a great possibility here,
something could be revealed.
370
00:27:56,840 --> 00:27:59,479
And the thrilling part was that this is 1948.
371
00:27:59,560 --> 00:28:03,269
I'm not looking at a carving
found out of the ground from 3,000 years ago,
372
00:28:03,360 --> 00:28:06,158
I'm looking at something
made by a man this minute.
373
00:28:06,240 --> 00:28:07,593
That's the exciting thing.
374
00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:13,471
A few years later, Eskimos all over
the Canadian arctic were carving.
375
00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:16,836
Jim Houston had found for them
a new source of income
376
00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:19,434
that they desperately needed
as they progressively abandoned
377
00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:24,389
their old harsh wandering life
and settled down in villages on the coast.
378
00:28:24,480 --> 00:28:27,711
There was nothing like enough walrus ivory
to meet the new demand,
379
00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:33,318
and the sculptors were forced to use stone,
and then washed up bones of whales.
380
00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:37,473
Planes flying between the lonely settlements
collected the sculptures
381
00:28:37,560 --> 00:28:39,232
in ever increasing quantities
382
00:28:39,320 --> 00:28:44,713
and brought them down
to this vast warehouse near 0ttawa.
383
00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:49,874
Here dealers come to select pieces for
the galleries that have sprung up in hundreds
384
00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:52,520
in the cities of North America and beyond,
385
00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:56,593
some of them selling nothing
but Eskimo sculpture.
386
00:28:56,680 --> 00:28:59,956
The sheer quantity of the carvings
is numbing.
387
00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:02,952
The variety of styles enormous.
388
00:29:03,040 --> 00:29:08,114
For Houston the site is a thrilling one, for it
certainly represents a great deal of money
389
00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:10,509
that will be flowing back up north.
390
00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:15,549
Less certain perhaps
is the artistic quality of the work.
391
00:29:15,640 --> 00:29:18,871
(Houston) In all this welter of things,
some good some bad,
392
00:29:18,960 --> 00:29:22,873
certain things leap out at you,
it seems to me.
393
00:29:22,960 --> 00:29:27,192
Here's a whale, a white whale.
Kelalogak, they call it.
394
00:29:27,280 --> 00:29:31,353
It seems to me notable
because it has the essence of what, er...
395
00:29:31,440 --> 00:29:33,192
He seems to suggest...
396
00:29:33,280 --> 00:29:36,158
You see the sort of fatness
and the weight of the whale,
397
00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:37,958
you see a driving movement.
398
00:29:38,040 --> 00:29:41,999
And even the stone,
which is a soft green jadeite,
399
00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:44,913
has a sort of watery significance to it,
400
00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:47,309
you see the shine on the spine and so on.
401
00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:49,391
Er, he carves it all around,
402
00:29:49,480 --> 00:29:52,278
he keeps after the details,
403
00:29:52,360 --> 00:29:55,955
he thinks of the thing in the round,
it's a round object.
404
00:29:56,040 --> 00:30:00,477
He doesn't just think of it as a thing
to set down and so one view is not important.
405
00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:03,711
It's the whole total animal is important.
406
00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:06,837
- Now, I don't care for that very much.
- (Chuckles)
407
00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:09,798
Personally I would love to cut that off
408
00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:13,190
but this seems to have such a virtue in it.
409
00:30:13,280 --> 00:30:16,511
It starts off... It seems to orient itself right here.
410
00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:19,876
And in this case, the man has decorated
the stone in a rather old way
411
00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:22,838
by engraving it and cutting into it.
412
00:30:22,920 --> 00:30:26,595
But he gets a great sense of driving
from the centre.
413
00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:29,797
Now, the mere fact that you said
you would cut that off...
414
00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:34,749
might not the chap up in Cape Dorset or
whatever say to the man who is carving this,
415
00:30:34,840 --> 00:30:36,671
"If I were you I'd cut that off,"
416
00:30:36,760 --> 00:30:40,912
and wouldn't that be the European
telling the Eskimo what to carve?
417
00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:44,390
Yes, it would. But the man up north is...
418
00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:48,393
almost in every case not an art man at all.
419
00:30:48,480 --> 00:30:52,314
He probably wouldn't... The danger may be
that he said, "Would you put that on?"
420
00:30:52,400 --> 00:30:55,472
Well, exactly, but the mere fact
that he says anything
421
00:30:55,560 --> 00:31:00,031
might mean that the Europeans
are changing the way the Eskimos carve.
422
00:31:00,120 --> 00:31:03,078
Er, yes, I think that's true to some extent.
423
00:31:03,760 --> 00:31:08,117
That change, in some people's eyes,
has been very much for the worse.
424
00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:11,829
An anthropologist who knows
the Eskimo well, Edmund Carpenter,
425
00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:15,515
is very critical of the outsiders
who have fostered Eskimo art.
426
00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:20,993
They encourage the Eskimos
to make scenes from the past.
427
00:31:21,080 --> 00:31:26,916
Er, when the rifle was already in use
now they were showing the harpoons in use.
428
00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:32,120
And often you'd find that the Eskimos
would copy things from catalogues,
429
00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:37,479
from mail... order catalogues, and the Canadian
government would have to destroy these objects
430
00:31:37,560 --> 00:31:42,998
because they didn't want people to feel
that this wasn't a native craft,
431
00:31:43,080 --> 00:31:48,074
a native art form deeply rooted in belief.
Well, of course, it wasn't.
432
00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:51,154
This is a carving
that interests me tremendously.
433
00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:55,631
This is a shamanistic piece,
a big vertebra of a white whale.
434
00:31:55,720 --> 00:32:01,989
Here we see the devil's foot
with very pointed claws, unlike a human foot.
435
00:32:02,080 --> 00:32:04,799
Everything is in balance
and yet sort of out of balance.
436
00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:07,474
You see this hand, remarkable.
437
00:32:07,560 --> 00:32:12,509
You see these faces, the pair of them,
beautifully and magically in balance,
438
00:32:12,600 --> 00:32:15,831
and the keynote of the thing is magic.
439
00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:18,798
That looks... Is that a truly traditional...
440
00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:20,836
- Absolutely.
...mermaid?
441
00:32:20,920 --> 00:32:24,037
The one who waves her arms
when the kayak man sees her,
442
00:32:24,120 --> 00:32:26,429
he beckons to her and says, "Kaili, kaili, kaili,"
443
00:32:26,520 --> 00:32:30,229
and she answers to him,
she's very old in Eskimo mythology
444
00:32:30,320 --> 00:32:32,754
and very important, the sea goddess.
445
00:32:33,400 --> 00:32:38,315
The most important figure in Eskimo mythology
everywhere in the north with out exception,
446
00:32:38,400 --> 00:32:40,675
is Sedna, or Nuliajuk.
447
00:32:40,760 --> 00:32:43,558
And, er, it's, er...
448
00:32:43,640 --> 00:32:46,837
it's a very complicated story
of a woman who...
449
00:32:46,920 --> 00:32:50,310
Ioses one eye and loses all of her fingers
and so forth,
450
00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:53,437
and she's unable to comb her hair and so forth.
451
00:32:54,880 --> 00:32:56,836
Today... She lives beneath the sea.
452
00:32:56,920 --> 00:33:00,435
Today when the Eskimos carve her,
they make her into a mermaid
453
00:33:00,520 --> 00:33:07,073
and they show her with her hair carefully
groomed with fingers and with two eyes.
454
00:33:07,160 --> 00:33:09,754
The myth is gone,
the whole meaning of the story.
455
00:33:09,840 --> 00:33:14,118
And it was the most profound story.
I think it was...
456
00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:20,150
like Orpheus, it was like
the Christian story, if you wish. Er...
457
00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:23,391
And that's gone.
Now it's simply a paperweight.
458
00:33:26,840 --> 00:33:30,355
(Edmund Carpenter)
I see the modern Eskimo art...
459
00:33:30,440 --> 00:33:34,479
as Western, it's designed for Europeans,
460
00:33:34,560 --> 00:33:38,872
it has no meaning except financial return
for the Eskimos.
461
00:33:38,960 --> 00:33:44,080
Er, we've asked them to make art that we like
462
00:33:44,160 --> 00:33:47,152
and to make it cheap enough
so we can afford it.
463
00:33:47,240 --> 00:33:51,233
But we've told them what we want
and they've made it.
464
00:33:51,320 --> 00:33:53,276
They've done a very good job.
465
00:33:53,360 --> 00:33:57,194
It means that every man
can have his own Henry Moore now.
466
00:33:57,280 --> 00:33:59,271
In stone.
467
00:33:59,360 --> 00:34:01,316
But it's not Eskimo.
468
00:34:02,840 --> 00:34:05,115
I really feel there's a basic indignity
469
00:34:05,200 --> 00:34:08,556
that cannot ultimately escape
having some influence
470
00:34:08,640 --> 00:34:13,156
and it's the indignity of asking people
to be other than themselves.
471
00:34:13,240 --> 00:34:16,471
Our unwillingness to accept people
on their own terms,
472
00:34:16,560 --> 00:34:19,552
our demand that they become like us...
473
00:34:19,640 --> 00:34:22,950
consumers in our world
enlarging our market.
474
00:34:23,040 --> 00:34:24,598
Then we say they're welcome
475
00:34:24,680 --> 00:34:28,593
but they're not welcome
as people who are unique and different.
476
00:34:28,680 --> 00:34:30,830
There's no coexistence.
477
00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:33,718
You know, to me, art...
478
00:34:33,800 --> 00:34:35,677
alien art becomes really exciting
479
00:34:35,760 --> 00:34:41,915
when it forces you to go beyond your own
identity, when it really challenges you.
480
00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:45,117
Not when it confirms
all your previous convictions,
481
00:34:45,200 --> 00:34:49,159
but when it's a very painful experience
to try to come to know it
482
00:34:49,240 --> 00:34:53,756
and to appreciate something that really lies
beyond the scope of the identity
483
00:34:53,840 --> 00:34:56,957
that you chose for yourself.
Now, that to me is education.
484
00:34:57,040 --> 00:35:01,158
And it may well be
what human relations are about too.
485
00:35:05,120 --> 00:35:08,590
Africa again. This time Nigeria.
486
00:35:08,680 --> 00:35:11,433
These figures are also the result
of an interaction
487
00:35:11,520 --> 00:35:14,034
between European and tribal traditions,
488
00:35:14,120 --> 00:35:17,317
but here the result has been very different.
489
00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:22,793
These figures were not made to sell
to an unknown alien public living far away,
490
00:35:22,880 --> 00:35:27,874
but to serve a religion that is founded
in the very ground on which they stand.
491
00:35:27,960 --> 00:35:31,999
They're part of a strange revolution
that has produced something totally new
492
00:35:32,080 --> 00:35:33,798
in African art.
493
00:35:33,880 --> 00:35:37,270
It all began here in this sacred forest
at Oshogbo,
494
00:35:37,360 --> 00:35:40,397
one of the holy places of the Yoruba people.
495
00:35:40,480 --> 00:35:46,396
This is the ancient shrine dedicated to Oshun,
the goddess of fertility and water,
496
00:35:46,480 --> 00:35:51,679
and it's supported by these pillars
which traditionally are quite bare.
497
00:35:51,760 --> 00:35:54,832
But in 1961 they were falling into disrepair,
498
00:35:54,920 --> 00:35:59,072
and Suzanne Wenger, a Viennese artist
who had come to settle in the town,
499
00:35:59,160 --> 00:36:03,915
managed to get some money
to commission their repair.
500
00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:07,788
She engaged two of the local builders,
501
00:36:07,880 --> 00:36:12,670
and as they worked,
suddenly under their fingers appeared
502
00:36:12,760 --> 00:36:15,354
these strange images.
503
00:36:15,440 --> 00:36:17,590
(Drumming)
504
00:36:19,880 --> 00:36:24,874
Some are half... hidden among
the branches and roots of the sacred grove.
505
00:36:24,960 --> 00:36:28,316
Some are giant shrines,
where the people come to worship.
506
00:37:39,680 --> 00:37:41,716
(# Classical music playing)
507
00:38:06,680 --> 00:38:10,195
Suzanne Wenger came here originally
just to paint,
508
00:38:10,280 --> 00:38:15,149
but she became deeply interested in Yoruba
religion, began to worship at the shrines,
509
00:38:15,240 --> 00:38:19,756
and soon she was initiated as a priestess
of the god of creation.
510
00:38:22,040 --> 00:38:25,157
In her studio, she works mostly in batik,
511
00:38:25,240 --> 00:38:29,153
a method of painting on cloth
with molten wax and coloured dyes
512
00:38:29,240 --> 00:38:31,470
that originally was developed in the Far East
513
00:38:31,560 --> 00:38:33,915
and which she had learned in Vienna.
514
00:38:46,800 --> 00:38:48,756
Some of her batiks she sells,
515
00:38:48,840 --> 00:38:51,559
but many of them
are made for religious purposes
516
00:38:51,640 --> 00:38:54,871
and portray the Yoruba gods
as she sees them.
517
00:39:08,880 --> 00:39:11,792
Working with her
are other Yoruba artists.
518
00:39:11,880 --> 00:39:14,997
Some of them have taken up
the art of batik painting.
519
00:39:15,080 --> 00:39:16,752
Nearly all of them carve,
520
00:39:16,840 --> 00:39:20,276
and it is their statues
that crowd every room in the house.
521
00:39:34,720 --> 00:39:39,032
0shogbo, where she lives,
is a small town in the centre of Nigeria.
522
00:39:39,120 --> 00:39:42,749
She herself is the only European
living in the old quarter.
523
00:39:42,840 --> 00:39:46,389
Although this place is, by tradition,
sacred to the Yoruba,
524
00:39:46,480 --> 00:39:49,950
not all the people living there
still follow their tribal beliefs.
525
00:39:50,040 --> 00:39:54,158
Some are Christian, many are Muslim,
and it certainly caused a sensation
526
00:39:54,240 --> 00:39:59,234
when Suzanne Wenger first settled there
and became a traditional priestess.
527
00:39:59,320 --> 00:40:03,108
Her house was built originally
for a wealthy African merchant.
528
00:40:03,200 --> 00:40:07,955
She has turned it into part workshop,
part hostel for visiting worshippers,
529
00:40:08,040 --> 00:40:11,191
part temple and part art gallery.
530
00:40:12,680 --> 00:40:17,470
In front of it, she and her helpers
have built fences of concrete figures,
531
00:40:17,560 --> 00:40:20,870
dancers and musicians in a Yoruba carnival.
532
00:40:22,720 --> 00:40:26,156
0n the balconies above,
her pet monkeys play.
533
00:40:27,600 --> 00:40:29,716
I'm not a studio artist.
534
00:40:29,800 --> 00:40:35,033
I'm all the time deeply involved
to my surrounding, I always was.
535
00:40:35,120 --> 00:40:40,672
Vienna, Paris, everywhere,
I got involved into the human context
536
00:40:40,760 --> 00:40:45,311
and that is what happened here at once also.
537
00:40:45,400 --> 00:40:52,317
And this is what was surprising people,
because if there are sympathetic Europeans
538
00:40:52,400 --> 00:40:58,919
but they do not step out very far
from their cars and reservations
539
00:40:59,000 --> 00:41:03,152
and if somebody steps out,
it is an anthropologist.
540
00:41:03,240 --> 00:41:08,189
I'm not an anthropologist, I am living that life.
541
00:41:09,840 --> 00:41:13,196
As she became more and more involved
in Yoruba religion,
542
00:41:13,280 --> 00:41:17,114
she brought her own artistic skills
increasingly to its service.
543
00:41:17,200 --> 00:41:18,997
First restoring the old shrines
544
00:41:19,080 --> 00:41:23,949
and then building totally new ones
on ancient sacred sites.
545
00:41:24,880 --> 00:41:30,876
(Suzanne) I wanted to make sure
that the architecture blends into the surrounding,
546
00:41:30,960 --> 00:41:32,712
with the trees and so on.
547
00:41:32,800 --> 00:41:37,999
But I was then still a bit embarrassed,
it was the beginning.
548
00:41:38,080 --> 00:41:41,675
And I was sitting there for three months,
549
00:41:41,760 --> 00:41:45,753
every day a bit, longer or shorter time,
550
00:41:45,840 --> 00:41:52,313
and more or less not doing more than to look
into the branches of these enormous trees
551
00:41:52,400 --> 00:41:58,999
and somehow begging them to transmit
552
00:41:59,080 --> 00:42:04,108
their aesthetic laws To me.
553
00:42:04,200 --> 00:42:09,320
Then I started to call Adebisi, my assistant,
554
00:42:09,400 --> 00:42:15,236
and as I used to speak with my hands
very much,
555
00:42:15,320 --> 00:42:19,757
if more now since I have to do it
to explain myself,
556
00:42:19,840 --> 00:42:25,119
we are working without plans naturally,
I started to make him sit with me
557
00:42:25,200 --> 00:42:32,117
and I showed him which parts of the branches
I think are most expressive,
558
00:42:32,200 --> 00:42:37,797
and that we have to make this tree a doors,
559
00:42:37,880 --> 00:42:42,590
with the gates, and I was telling him
how it has to look,
560
00:42:42,680 --> 00:42:48,118
and that it has to be these two serpents
and why and so on.
561
00:42:48,200 --> 00:42:52,671
And this is how we still work.
You know, I have the idea,
562
00:42:52,760 --> 00:42:58,278
I'm cooking out the idea
till I have the feeling...
563
00:42:58,360 --> 00:43:03,115
this is how it has to be
and this is how I always knew it has to be,
564
00:43:03,200 --> 00:43:06,431
then I start to tell him.
565
00:43:08,920 --> 00:43:10,876
(Trowels scraping)
566
00:43:13,840 --> 00:43:15,398
(David) Work is unceasing.
567
00:43:15,480 --> 00:43:19,314
Historic sites are being marked
with ever more complex sculptures.
568
00:43:22,440 --> 00:43:26,433
This one represents the chameleon
which appeared at the dawn of creation
569
00:43:26,520 --> 00:43:29,592
and gingerly stepped down
onto the newly made earth
570
00:43:29,680 --> 00:43:33,434
to see if it was cool enough
for the gods to walk upon.
571
00:43:41,760 --> 00:43:44,479
There are many both in Africa and Europe
572
00:43:44,560 --> 00:43:48,314
who regard these new shrines
as desecrations.
573
00:43:48,400 --> 00:43:52,029
The sites are after all historic
and sacred to the Yoruba
574
00:43:52,120 --> 00:43:56,079
and there is a living artistic tradition
flourishing all over Yoruba land
575
00:43:56,160 --> 00:44:00,950
that has produced some of the most splendid
and noble sculptures in all Africa.
576
00:44:01,040 --> 00:44:04,157
Why should that be abandoned
in favour of a new style
577
00:44:04,240 --> 00:44:07,232
influenced by cultures from far away?
578
00:44:07,320 --> 00:44:12,075
Suzanne Wenger's view is that continuity
of tradition is less important
579
00:44:12,160 --> 00:44:16,711
than religious commitment,
and that she certainly has.
580
00:44:21,000 --> 00:44:26,393
This is the place for Egbe,
that is the heavenly society.
581
00:44:26,480 --> 00:44:32,828
Every section of the shrine
is for a certain section of the religion.
582
00:44:33,840 --> 00:44:37,037
Egbe is the heavenly society,
583
00:44:37,120 --> 00:44:45,312
it is the other parts of your soul
which are not in the moment living on earth.
584
00:44:54,680 --> 00:45:00,789
Florid forms, that's flower,
that are flowers that I sow seeds.
585
00:45:09,920 --> 00:45:15,392
That is now the story house,
that are the steps,
586
00:45:15,480 --> 00:45:19,996
and it's supported with the tree.
587
00:45:20,080 --> 00:45:23,231
The inside is a tree, you will see it then there.
588
00:45:23,320 --> 00:45:28,030
But it's all like a snail
because the snail is the symbol of...
589
00:45:28,120 --> 00:45:31,590
of beginning, like DNA, you know?
590
00:45:38,000 --> 00:45:41,913
We are entering now the womb of creation.
591
00:45:42,000 --> 00:45:47,393
So it is also the basis
of the tree of derivation
592
00:45:47,480 --> 00:45:50,278
which you see now here.
593
00:45:50,360 --> 00:45:56,469
That is the tree of life, the middle,
who supports this building.
594
00:45:56,560 --> 00:46:00,792
It is a living room,
it is a living room for the gods.
595
00:46:00,880 --> 00:46:04,350
Only people who impersonate the gods
596
00:46:04,440 --> 00:46:07,591
can live here unharmed and happily.
597
00:46:07,680 --> 00:46:12,196
So that is a bed and a cupboard,
and windows to look out,
598
00:46:12,280 --> 00:46:14,840
everything under the shadow.
599
00:46:14,920 --> 00:46:18,435
And who does come and stay here?
Do you stay here ever?
600
00:46:18,520 --> 00:46:20,988
Oh, yes. Oh, yes, I do.
601
00:46:21,080 --> 00:46:24,231
- For how long?
- I stay, er... I, er...
602
00:46:24,320 --> 00:46:28,950
It is just as I like, you know?
There is no any obligations.
603
00:46:46,960 --> 00:46:52,114
To some European eyes, Suzanne Wenger's
strange amalgam of Western styles
604
00:46:52,200 --> 00:46:56,159
and African myths may seem to be
without meaning or value.
605
00:46:56,240 --> 00:47:00,074
But she seeks no golden opinions
from the art critics of the West.
606
00:47:00,160 --> 00:47:04,756
For her the crucial test is whether
what she creates is effective and meaningful
607
00:47:04,840 --> 00:47:08,196
in the African community
that has now absorbed her.
608
00:47:08,280 --> 00:47:12,398
The fact that her shrines have become places
where the Yoruba people worship
609
00:47:12,480 --> 00:47:17,679
in increasing numbers is the measure
of success that she values most highly.
610
00:47:26,840 --> 00:47:31,914
For Suzanne Wenger and the Yoruba,
the driving force of art is religion.
611
00:47:32,000 --> 00:47:35,390
A great drummer is fine because
he speaks with the voice of the gods.
612
00:47:35,480 --> 00:47:39,871
A sculptor carves well because
he has a true vision of the divinity.
613
00:47:39,960 --> 00:47:44,112
And in that they are at one with tribal
communities all over the world.
614
00:47:44,200 --> 00:47:47,033
People of the West, having imposed
their ways of life
615
00:47:47,120 --> 00:47:51,398
on so much of the rest of humanity,
now find their old faiths dying.
616
00:47:51,480 --> 00:47:54,950
Perhaps that is one reason
why they find the fervent images
617
00:47:55,040 --> 00:47:58,635
created by tribal artists so compelling,
618
00:47:58,720 --> 00:48:02,679
for it's through them that they can still glimpse
other faiths,
619
00:48:02,760 --> 00:48:05,718
other worlds, other ways of being human.