ABSTRACT
Sculpture, has evolved over time, and through the period of its development so many ideas from diverse sources have been discovered by sculptors. African maskshave been explored by foreign artists like, Amideo Modigliani and Pablo Picasso in their paintings and sculptures, this direction has influenced to a large extent the trend of contemporary western sculptures. The problem of this research however, is that the masks culture of Bassa Nge is gradually facing extinction due to the growing influence of western culture. The aim of this study is to create relief sculptures inspired by Elebo masks forms using mild steel, while the objectives are to; execute representational forms of the Elebo masks in sculpture, create stylised sculpture compositions as inspired by Elebo mask forms and to explore the Elebo masks in Geometrical forms in sculpture. The research method used was the exploratory Studio Practice-based research methodology, which involved visualization and practical observation of the Elebo mask forms. The analysis and conceptualisation of perceived forms formed the basis from which the works were executed. Eighteen sculptures were created. Several findings and observations were made in the process of this research, which are; that mild steel could be used to create representational forms of the Elebo masks in relief sculptures using the vibrant patterns, symbols and motifs in its execution. It also found out that the stylisation stage of this study has led to the discovery of shapes, pattern and symbols which could be used in graphic and textile designs. The researcher found that geometrical exploration of Elebo masks forms in sculpture could be beneficial to other discipline like architects, fabricators and designers whenincorporated intoother forms of contemporarysculpture.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page ————————————————————————————————i Declaration———————————————————————————————-ii Certification——————————————————————————————–iii Acknowledgement————————————————————————————-iv Abstract————————————————————————————————–v Table of contents—————————————————————————————vi List of figures——————————————————————————————vii List of plates——————————————————————————————viii
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CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction—————————————————————————-1
1.2 Statement of the Problem ———————————————————–6
1.3 Aim and Objectives of the Study —————————————————-6
1.4 Research Questions—————– —————————————————7
1.5 Scope of the Study———————————————————————7
1.6 Justification of the Study ————————————————————-7
1.7 Significance of the Study ————————————————————-8
1.8 Conceptual Framework —————————————————————8
1.9 Definition of terms——————————————————————–9
CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction—————————————————————————————-11 2.2 Masks and its Origin—————————————————————————–11 2.3 Influence of African masks on European artist———————————————–12 2.4 Importance of African masks——————————————————————-13 2.4.1 Celebration————————————————————————————–15 2.4.2 Ceremonies————————————————————————————-15 2.4.3 Funerals——————————————————————————————15 2.4.4 Secret Societies ——————————————————————————–16 2.4.5 Honour ——————————————————————————————16 2.5 Composition ————————————————————————————–17 2.6 Simplification and Abstraction—————————————————————–18 2.7 Bassa Nge —————————————————————————————–22 2.8 Elebo Masks—————————————————————————————23 2.9 Elebo Masks and its Significance————————————————————–24 2.10 Empirical Review of Related Works———————————————————30
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CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY 3.1 Introduction————————————————————————————–41 3.2 Instrument for Data Collection—————————————————————–42 3.3 Data Collected———————————————————————————–42 3.4Procedures—————————————————————————————-43 3.4.1Sketches—————————————————————————————–43 3.4.2 Representational Sketches——————————————————————–44 3.4.3 Stylised Sketches——————————————————————————-45 3.3.4 Geometrical Sketches————————————————————————–46 3.5 Exploration of Forms—————————————————————————-49 3.6 Representational Stage————————————————————————–49 3.7 Stylised Stage————————————————————————————-50 3.8 Geometrical Stage——————————————————————————–52 3.9 Finishing——————————————————————————————-52 3.10 Summary—————————————————————————————–53
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CHAPTER FOUR CATALOGUE AND ANALYSIS OF WORKS 4.1 Introduction————————————————————————————–.54 4.2 Representational Stage————————————————————————–54 4.3 My Heritage————————————————————————————–55 4.4 Ndako I——————————————————————————————–56 4.5 Lemye———————————————————————————————57 4.6 Ndako II——————————————————————————————-58 4.7 Disguise I—————————————————————————————–59 4.8 Ai‟yem——————————————————————————————–50 4.9 Disguise II—————————————————————————————-61 4.10 Stylised Stage———————————————————————————–62 4.11 Gagi beh Inzagi———————————————————————————63 4.12 My Heritage II———————————————————————————-64 4.13 Suzuwe——————————————————————————————-65 4.14 Lazhi———————————————————————————————-66 4.15 Pain and Pleasure——————————————————————————–67 4.16 Ancestral Mask———————————————————————————-68 4.17 Face———————————————————————————————–69 4.18 Geometrical Expression————————————————————————70 4.19 Unity———————————————————————————————-70 4.20 Conception—————————————————————————————71 4.21 Couple——————————————————————————————–73
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4.22 Birni———————————————————————————————–74 4.23 Owl————————————————————————————————75 4.24 Tribute——————————————————————————————–76
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CHAPTER FIVE FINDINGS SUMMERY AND CONCLUSION 5.1 Summer——————————————————————————————–78 5.2 Findings——————————————————————————————–78 5.3 Recommendation———————————————————————————79 5.4 Conclusion—————————————————————————————–79
CHAPTER ONE
1.1 Introduction Art is an integral element of human existence. This existing reality cannot be ignored but rather developed as a fundamental standard for the stimulation of a healthy society.This probably reflects why works of art are relatively used in measuring people‟s level of civilization, development and enlightenment. Bentor (1995) describes art as a sign that provides insight that aids the evaluation of human consciousness or tracking the given state of progress. Form in another hand,is a tool that gives an individual the insight of art vocabulary. Bell in Ola-bale (2014) observes that, “form is the essence of art.” It has been used in various ways to explore ideas, and it appears that it was the earliest element employed to solve basic sculptural problems.According to Ocvrik, in Uzoji (2015) form is an element of art and the most basic in sculpture which consists of volume and shapes.Consequently, “art is an expression of culture of the people that produced it. It also embodies the historical and socio-economical development of their lives”.This explains the homogeneity that is embedded in cultures like Egypt, Greek, Nok, Ife, Igbo-Ukwu and Bassa Nge art among others.
No matter how small a society is, it usually has its unique cultural practices that are constantly passed down from one generation to another. One of such ethnic groups is the Bassa Nge. The Bassa Nge speaking people are an extraction of Bassa Local Government Area of Kogi State, Nigeria. Commonto the Bassa Nge people is the annual cultural festival known as „BassaNgeDay‟ held to commemorate the end of the previous yearand to usher in another year. Before the establishment of the Bassa NgeDay annual festival, it was only moon night
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entertainment of the raining season. There was no any event bring the whole community together in one voice. Every community does its own events at will, some do not. This has left negative impact on the culture and tradition of the Bassa Nge people thereby leading to the neglect of their cultural values and causing disunity and segregation among the communities. For the Bassa Nge communities to be hamonised in peace and unity there is need to create an avenue of unifying the people. So the Bassa Ngeannual cultural festival known as Bassa NgeDay was established in the early 80s. Its aim was to foster unity and harmony among the Bassa Nge people both home and abroad thereby bringing them together to celebrate the rich cultural values, heritage and tradition of the people once in every end of the year.At the festival, different masks are worn by masqueradesduring performance showcasing the rich cultural values and heritage of the people. This is believed to serveimportant purpose in inculcating moral values and self-confidence in the lives of the people. The BassaNge people inhabited the low lands river Niger and Benue with paddy soil and they were mostly farmers and fishermen. Others were good craftsmen in wood carvings and goldsmith in steel castings design similar to the Bida iron works. Habi (1987) further asserts that;
The Bassa Nge originally inhabited Gbara in Nupe kingdom and later migrated from their mother land following a dynastic feud. The BassaNge is the longest of the Nupe group that scattered all over Nigeria. In an account of the BassaNgepeople, the ancestors were of Nupe descendant, which is borne out by a corrupt form of that language which their descendants speak, as well as evidence of local tradition. Their original homes were Pada, Kuso-Gbagi and towns of the Nupe, some also inhabiting the suburbs and Neighbours of Egan and Kupa on its western bank. The people’s path of movement was through Koro, Yagba, Bunu down to Lokoja. Evident from fragments cultural adoption and oral history indicate that the emigrant settled in Bunu in the former Kaba Division of Nigeria. This group of Nupe emigrant settled in their own wards and later inter-mingled and inter-marriage with their hosts. It was in the course of
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these movements and settlements amongst the Bunu, their language, Nupe, became adulterated with adopted words of Bunu language. Example of which can be found in greetings “Kwastse” (Ekun-ise) for one at work; “Kabo” or (Ekunerun) for welcome and name like “Legbam” (illegbami); “Agbe-roke(Okunagbe) for typical hard working farmers “Ajeku” for food leftovers. Because of this adulteration which language suffered, the BassaNge people speak a dialectisedNupe – which differs essentially in intonation. Habi, went further to say that the BassaNge‟s were migrant of Nupes who moved to Mount Pati of Lokoja, and then later crossed to the western side of the River Niger where they were called “BassaNge.” The BassaNgeethnic group of Kogi State Nigeria is of Nupe descent. Sanusi (2014) and Ndagi (2014) confirm that, Bassa Nge ethnic group known as the Nupespeaking people occupied a place called Gbara, a town of about 25km southwest of Bida in Niger State-North Central Nigeria. The migrated Nupe people are now known as Bassa Nge ethnic group they migrated due to dynastic dispute between brothers Jimada and Majiya which led to their migration in 1820. Sanusi 2014 stated that; The family dispute over leadership continued to cause disintegration which resulted to the migration of some factions of the populace from Gbara in search of another land. Idrisu the son of late king Jimada flee with his father‟s followers southwards and later settled on the Mount Pati, a hill in the suburb of the present day Lokoja the Kogi State Capital. In Lokoja, these migrants, who were mainly farmers and hunters, continue to disperse in smaller family groups to settle in different part of the state. It is believed that some of these family groups ferried across the great Niger and Benue rivers to settle in the eastern part of Kogi State, their present home. This has finally lead to their librationfrom the communities with whom they first settled before migrating to the eastern part of Lokoja across river Niger and Benue where they now own farm lands and better place for fishing, farming and hunting. The Bassa Nge no doubt possesses lot of cultural masks that ranges from sacred to secular namely; Eka, Amarya, Alage, Anogbonboro, Nna, Nna Atsoba, Egbunu, Afonoko, Ndako,Elebo Abure, Elebo Ekwuecici, Elebo Takete, Elebo Noni, Elebo Amda and Elebo Ecewu to mention a few.Six out of these masksinspired this research they are as
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follows;Elebo Abure(Fig. 4 p. 24), Elebo Ekwuecici(Fig. 5 p.25),Elebo Takete(Fig. 6 p.26), Elebo Anogbonboro(Fig. 7 p.26), Elebo Nna (Fig. 8 p.27), and Elebo Amda (Fig. 9 p.28). The researcher developed interest on these masks because they are the socio-cultural masks of the Bassa Ngepeople and is both secular and sacred masks with forms of sculptural interest like;shapes and forms, motifs, symbols and patterns which are found on these masks. TheElebomasks are believed to be the spirits of the ancestors. This is why masks in Bassa Nge culture are generally referred to as „Akuci-Ndamzhi‟, meaning our ancestors (Sanusi 2014). „Elebo‟ connotes peeping;peeping as specified by Encarta Dictionary (2009) is to look quickly or secretly, for example, through a small opening or from a hiding place. This is why the Elebo masks are also referred to as “the seer” because it was believed that they possess the power of seeing beyond the physical. The Elebo masks of BassaNge serve as a protective measure to the society because it is believed toforetell the future. Mathew (2015) maintains that, the Elebomasks are both a secular and sacred icon of day and night performances. He concluded that, the Elebomasks reflect many of the social qualities for which the BassaNge is known,for example, hospitality, gracefulness, physical strength, endurance and prosperity.
It is quite evident that the similarities that exist among the mask of the Benin kingdom, Yoruba, Igala, Ebira, Nupe, andIdomainfluenced theBassaNgemasks.The artof Nupe, Igala, Ebira, Bassa-Komu, Yoruba, andBunu people with whom they first settled before moving to the western part of the River Niger and Benueinfluenced the Bassa Nge art. According to Matthew (2015) “the culture of BassaNge and the art produced in Bassa NgeLand are much diversified and originate from different sources, because of the contact with other cultures and the arts of neighbouring people.”
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Masks in Africa serve as intermediary between man and the spirit being. Labija (2003) observes that, masks in Africa are still instruments by which man‟s activities are favourably attached.To give more validity to the above assertion, Strickland (1992) opines that “the main artistic products of tropical Africa were wood carvings both mask and sculpture in the round” the author further opined that “mask were intentionally unrealistic when confronting a supernatural power and the idea was for the performer to conceal his true identity behind the artificial face. The early traces of the adaptation of masks in modern art is evident in the works of Henri Matisse in which he replaced the first version of naturalistically contoured facial features of a young sailor with more rigid abstract of a mask. Picasso completed his Gertrude stein, about the same time, finalising her face with a mask like style of the sculptural bust from his ancient region (Clausius, 2007). According to Uzoji (2015) “new generations of artists become dissatisfied with the path taken by their predecessors and strike out new directions.” The author further states that, “throughout the frame of this time, artists have sought inspirations from classical African antiquity.” Such artists arePablo Picasso (Cubist Face Fig.15),Constantine Brancussi, (DanaideCirca Fig. 16) andJoseph Ogunsulade, (African mask Fig. 10). Delved into new directions by a critical contemplation and appraisal of classical African sculpture”.
The general idea about masks is associated with certain animals or plants which are honoured by the people. Ninian (2010) gives credence to the above assertion when he notes that, “masks are any animal, plant and object considered related to a kin group viewed as sacred.” Artists over time have drawn inspirations from different sources, with culture playing a dominant role.
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Some of the factors posing threat to the survival and practice of the BassaNge traditional masks are western cultures and traditions that continue to penetrate African societies. Sanusi (2014)avers that most Africans continue to change from their traditional ways of worship and existence,the spirit mask and other mask forms were either acultured or discarded and carted away due to the influence of early missionaries who viewed them as pagan practices. It is in view of the aforementioned factors that the study intends to create forms in relief sculptures inspired byElebo mask forms. 1.2Statement of the Problem Research have been carried out, many of which are conducted on masks from various Nigerian cultures and traditions. However, the Bassa Nge ethnic group which is one among the minority groups in Nigeria does not have any visual documentation executed using the Elebo mask forms as inspiration in sculpture.It has been observed that even the local people in villages have now substituted the famous moonlight entertainment with watching films.As a result, the longing for Elebo masksperformance, and itsmemories continue to fade away from the minds of the people. It means therefore, that the masks of the BassaNge are gradually facing extinction due to the growing influence of western culture,hence,this study. 1.3Aim and Objectives The aim of this study is to create relief sculptures inspired byElebo Mask forms using mild steel, while the objectivesare to;
I. execute representational formsof the Elebo maskusing its aesthetical elements
II. createstylised sculpture compositions as inspired byElebo mask forms.
III. explore the Elebo mask in Geometrical forms in sculpture.
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1.4Research Questions I. In what ways can theaesthetical elements of the Elebo mask forms be used to execute representational sculptures? II. How canElebo Mask forms be stylised into sculpture compositions?
IV. What are the possibilities of rendering the Elebo masks in geometrical forms in sculpture?
1.5 Scope of the Study From the numbers of Elebomasksmentioned earlier of the Bassa Ngepeople (from BassaLocal Government Area of Kogi State, Nigeria.)only six (6) Elebo masks out of 16 masks were used in this study as inspiration to create sculptures. These are; EleboAmda, EleboAbure,EleboEkwuecici, EleboTakete, EleboAfonoko and Elebo Noni of Bassa Nge. This is because they are the socio-cultural masks of the Bassa Nge peopleandtheyalso possess forms of sculptural interest. Mild steel, flat bars and found metal objects are the materials for execution. 1.6Justification of the Study
This study is justified by the need to document traditional and cultural beliefs and experiences which cannot be overemphasised; thus, the importance of creating and documenting the Elebo masks forms as one aspect of Bassa Nge culture in relief sculpture. This will aid in salvaging the masks from the threat of extinction, occasioned by religious stigmatisation of the art of masking. Furthermore, it will also make room for producing the
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Elebo mask forms into relief sculptures for the public and for the re-awakening of interest in cultural relics as a source of inspiration for sculpture exploration. 1.7Significance of the Study This study will help in promoting and projecting the rich cultural heritage of the BassaNgePeople.It will also contribute to the existing literature on modern and contemporary art practice by creating the BassaNge mask forms in relief sculpture. As a result, the research would produce a body of works that is hoped to be worthy of public appreciation and patronage. 1.8Conceptual Framework Adaptation as a concept base on the study on Modigliani‟s idea of mask forms informed the conceptual framework of this study. Modigliani studied and made several sketches on Dogon masks from Mali, this he later adapted into series of sculptures. One of the products is titled the “Head”, 1912. According to Encyclopedia Britannica (2014) Modigliani‟s idea of mask is characterised by asymmetrical composition and a simple but monumental use of lines. Picasso, in another hand,adapted geometrical form as techniques in creating works that were influenced by the mask head of Bakota and Dan people of Gabon and Ivory Coast which was later known ascubism.Example of his work is the “Cubist Face”, 1973 (Fig 23)(Karmel,2003).In a similar vein, the researcher is inspired by the adaptation of Modigliani‟smonumental use of lines and Picasso‟s geometrical techniques differently, to create relief sculptures using mild steel, rendering the composition in stylised and geometrical sculpture.
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1.9Definition of Terms Bassa: A local government in Kogi State Nigeria formally under Kabba Province. The name was coined by the colonial masters. Nge: “As I was saying” is a phrase that is constantly used by the BassaNge people while speaking their dialect. Because of it constant used (Nge) was now adopted and attached to Bassato differentiate from other Bassain the Kabbaprovince. BassaNge:The name of a minority ethic group in Kogi State, Nigeria. They speak dialectisedNupe. Nupe:The name of a majority ethnic group in Niger State, Nigeria they are also called Tapaby Yorubas. Elebo: Refers to pepping, disguise or covering. Akuci-Ndamzhi: TheAncestors of Bassa Nge people. EleboTakete: Mask of oneness. Ekuecici:Servant of the dead. Igala:The name of a majority tribe in Kogi State, Nigeria. Bunu: The name of another minority tribe in Kogi State, Nigeria. EleboAbure: Mask of cutting. EleboAmda: Mask of water pot.
Gboya: Mask of destruction.
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Kwastse:Literary meanswell-done in Bassa Nge language. Kabo:Welcome for someone coming back home. Ajeku:Leftover food (dinner). Ndako: Grandfather. Ai’yem: Refersto the eye as an important part of the human body. BagibeyNzagi:Refersto man and woman (that makes up a family). Suzuweh:Looking uncomfortable in the company of others (shyness). Lazhi:The early part of the day before noon. Birni: Acity or urban area with many buildings where a large number of people live and Work.
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