'Central Nigeria Unmasked' Opens at Stanford

Imagine a 650-mile long river valley that is home to 25 ethnic groups. What life challenges do these little-known people of Nigeria experience and what can we learn about them from the art they produce? These are questions that “Central Nigeria Unmasked” seeks to answer through its exhibit which opened today at the Cantor Arts Center.

The exhibit is organized as a journey up the Benue River from its confluence with the Niger River. The 150 works assembled from international collections represent ethnic groups of the lower, middle and upper river. The objects on display represent rites of passage such as birth, initiation, marriage, illness and death. Some of them are several centuries old.

The predominate art genre of Lower Benue region is the maternal shrine sculpture, depicting mothers with children and intending to honor the mother and protect the children.

The artists of the Middle Benue region tend to favor geometric styles of minimalist elegance such as the circular horns of “buffalo” crest masks.

The Upper Benue is isolated from the other areas of the valley. Instead of wood which is the favored material in the lower and middle regions, clay is used by its artists who are mostly women. They produce vessels for healing the sick, protecting hunters, and invoking the spirits of the deceased.

In addition to the statues, anthropomorphized vessels, masks and elaborate regalia, there is vintage and contemporary film footage of complex masquerades involving dancers whose identities are hidden by the shrouds they wear. Their dances honor the dead. Other masquerades are part of traditional ceremonies to bring initiates into the fold.

As exhibit co-curator Marla Berns of UCLA’s Fowler Museum put it, “This project was in the making for a long time.” It began in 1965 when her mentor, UCLA art historian Arnold Rubin, went to the Middle Benue region with his Super-8 movie camera. Before his death in 1988 Rubin conceived a large scale exhibition on the arts of the entire Benue River Valley. Berns assured him that one day this exhibition would come to fruition.

Berns called it a “a first look at the Benue River Valley.”

“This exhibition allows us to look back over 100 years to see human interactions through innovative sculpture,” she said.

The exhibition debuted at the Fowler Museum in February 2011 and moved on to the Smithsonian in September. Tom Seligman, director emeritus of the Cantor Arts Center “jumped on board” and encouraged bringing the exhibit to Stanford. Its massive catalog is the work of 16 scholars.

Marla Berns will lecture about the exhibit at 6:00 PM this evening and she will lead its public tour tomorrow at 12:15 PM. Also tomorrow at 6:00 PM New York Times art critic Holland Cotter will speak on the impact and influences of non-Western art. His lecture will be in the Annenberg Auditorium at the Cummings Art Building.