Consciousness, Literature and the Arts
Archive
Volume 2 Number 2, August 2007
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Nuttall, Sarah. Beautiful / Ugly. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2006. pp. 416, ISBN 978-0-8223-3918-2, £67.00 (HARD BACK), £16.99 (PAPER BACK).
Reviewed by
University of Wales Aberystwyth
The collection of essays in this text reflects the eclectic and diverse nature of African material culture and visual art studies. It opens new ways of appreciating Africa, both as a field of study and as a constituent of significant scholarship. It sheds light on the advantages of a multi-dimensional approach to the study of African art. Thereby making the field permeable and not a complex one like most people might have thought.
It is in the complex-ness of the meanings of beauty that one begins to unpick the thread that has continually shaped contemporary thoughts. We understand that beauty could mean different things to different people. But there must be a point at which a fairly representative acceptance of beauty can be reached to be accepted. The undue association of the concept of ugliness with certain people (Africa in this sense), is not a healthy approach because it negate the appreciation of the aesthetics enmeshed in the idea of that group of people. The shortfall of the appreciation or the contradictory meanings of beauty and ugliness has thwarted the concepts of appreciating diverse people completely. Rather than continually allow the concept to create the vacuum it has created over time, the concept of beauty and ugliness can be harnessed and developed in a more broad and encompassing ways. In that light, rather than festooned to the thinking that the beautiful represent the highpoints of human achievement and aesthetics perfection, we should be deviating to challenge earlier stereotypes and assumptions about the negative qualities of Africans in most scheme of things.
Beautiful/Ugly come across as an engaging text that challenges the notions of African aesthetics. While prying on the continual negation of African aesthetics in western parlance, it advocates the need to acknowledge the positive aspects of African aesthetic appeal in all its ramifications. In what appeared to be a critical exposé to the mega-narratives surrounding Pablo Picasso’s modernist success, Gikandi (2006: 32-59) succinctly and vividly showed how the influences he derived from the forms of African sculptures, delivered him to the shores of aesthetic climax at the dawn of the twentieth century. In the Heart of Darkness, Oguibe (1993) thinks that it is evidence of occidental culture and discourse that even the concept of history should be turned into a colony whose borders, validities, structures and configurations, even life tenure are solely and entirely decided by the West. Without missing words this perceptions is still evident in studies on Africa. It is seen even in the study of Benin art, where certain aspect of the visual culture is yet to be given the needed attention (Olokun mud sculptures is a case in point) (Ezeluomba, 2007).
From the introduction of the text through to the diverse contributions of the different contributors, one is lured into another world. This world is full of tension and anxieties. Gikandi’s exposé of Picasso’s reactions to African art at the turn of the twentieth century helped set the stage for the numerous other writings on African visual art. Els van der Plas exploration of the plurality of artistic influences allowed her to reach the conclusion that with the artists adaptations of influences from Reifenstahl photographs, Ousmane Sow positioned himself as a person and as an artist, and was able to adopt and adapt elements from different sources to enhance his creativity. Although the book explored very diverse areas, my interests were more focused on the art historical contributions. In what appeared to be an art work intended for as beautification insignia, Dominique Malaquais show how the diverse people of Cameroon reacted to the sculpture that was intended as a stature of liberty. The work created as an aesthetics piece has transformed politically, it has generated positive and negative responses. Taking a rather political views, it has catapulted a deep controversy that threatens the cooperate existence of the people of Douala. These views can be likened to the language of resistance that characterized the nationalistic quests of the 1950s and 60s. This was when numerous African countries agitated for and got their independence.
Michelle Gilbert’s exposition of the popular art of Africa with Ghana as a focus, pry into the popular artistic components of Africa. Taking queue from Vogel’s African Explores: 20th century African art (1991), she unravels the verve with which the Ghanaian urban artists are using their art to inform, educated as well as entertain their diverse audiences. I will like to add here that the awe inspiring nature of the paintings couple with their naïve representations sets them apart and define them as another style of art that deserve keen attention. Equally the practice of urban art has been and is still ongoing in most African countries south of the Sahara.
Although the text does not pride itself as an academic engagement and did not take on a particular subject area, it nonetheless offers diverse people the opportunity to study different aspects of Africa. It mandates the readers to reflect at the unique and diverse characteristics of Africa. Borrowing the words of Els van der Plas (2006), Sow does not strive for a perfect world. Instead he takes life as it is. He walks in his fathers shoes in a world of tragedy and happiness, and makes reality a little bit more beautiful… instead of associating the creativity of people with tragedy (Africa) and happiness (Europe and America), the creativity of individual and group of people should be considered and accepted holistically. In this way, the universalism of aesthetic criticism will be achieved.
In all, the book forms an interesting read and is highly recommended for those that are interested in African visual arts studies. This is because it is capable of forming an introduction to the study of African art. It is also recommended for anyone that has interest in a general knowledge of Africa. In this way, the book forms a significant resource material for the study and analysis of African material and visual cultures.
Reference
Vogel, S., I. Ebong, et al. (1991). Africa explores: 20th century African art. New York; Munich; New York City, Center for African Art: Prestel-Verlag: Distributed in the U.S. of America and Canada by Neues Pub. Co.
Gikandi, S. (2006). Picasso, Africa and the Schemata of Difference. Beautiful/Ugly: African and Diaspora Aesthetics. S. Nuttal. London, Duke University Press: 32-59.
Gilbert, M. (2006). Things Ugly: Ghananian Popular Painting. Beautiful/Ugly: African and Diaspora Aesthetics. S. Nuttal. London, Duke University Press: 340 - 371.
Malaquais, D. (2006). Quelle Liberte: Art, Beauty and the Grammars of Resistance in Douala. Beautiful/Ugly: African and Diaspora Aesthetics. S. Nuttal. London, Duke University Press: 122 - 164.
Plas, E. v. d. (2006). The Love of the Body: Ousmane Sow and Beauty. Beautiful/Ugly: African and Diaspora Aesthetics. S. Nuttal. London, Duke University Press: 188 - 203.
Ezeluomba, N. (2007). "The Message in a Text with Reference to Mud Sculptures of Benin." Black Art review: 33 - 37.