Constantine Petridis

The ultimate and authoritative introduction to Songye culture, sculpture, masks, and iron forging This lavishly illustrated book brings a new approach to the masterpieces of Songye, a Bantu ethnic group from the central Democratic Republic of the Congo, exploring the styles of the different regions, the identification of Songye master artists, and the specificity of Kifwebe masks. The World of Songye displays a large number of unpublished and specially commissioned photographs of Songye works of art from private and public collections, and of historic field photographs. Edited by the unchallenged specialists of the subject with contributions from ten distinguished writers, World of Songye analyzes Songye aesthetics and symbols, the Songye representation of animals and weapons and the history of collecting Songye artifacts on the field. It also explores the religious and magical functions and powers of Songye objects and their influence on modern art, focusing in particular on Jean-Michel Basquiat. Distributed for Mercatorfonds

Living in the region between the Lubudi and Kasai rivers in south central Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Luluwa people are known for their elaborately carved male and female figure sculptures, masks, and decorative arts. Constantine Petridis draws on first-hand accounts of numerous explorers, missionaries, colonial servants, anthropologists, and art historians who visited the region between the 1880s and the 1970s, to comprehensively situate the Luluwa’s ornate art in its original environment of production and use. Through a close study of published and unpublished sources as well as museum objects and archival photographs, this book sheds new light on the historical context of one of central Africa’s most spectacular artistic legacies, whose creation presumably dates back to the second half of the 19th century. Distributed for Mercatorfonds

South of the Sahara opens with general observations on the immensely rich and diversified artistic heritage of sub-Saharan Africa. Constantine Petridis examines the relationship between contemporary and so-called traditional African arts, and presents examples showing that many African works were originally part of an ensemble or one element of a performance. He discusses how works relate to ideas about leadership and the supernatural and then relates the many misunderstandings that still exist concerning the history and the chronology of African art. Afterdissecting the complex issue of style, he concentrates on the relationship between styles and both time and geography. Finally, Petridis considers the little-known issue of African aesthetics, investigating how the aesthetic preferences of the makers and users of the works differ from those of the Western museum audience and art lovers. Forty-two important works from thirty different cultures are featured in color, including objects from the ancient kingdom of Benin and examples of two of Africa's oldest archaeological art traditions: Nok in Nigeria and Djenne in Mali. Enriched with many field photographs and much ethnographical information, this presentation emphasizes the extraordinary formal invention and spiritual power of the objects.