Inaugurating the first permanent African Art Gallery at Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) are masterworks of Luba, one of the most influential kingdoms in pre-colonial Central Africa history.
Curated
by LACMA's Consulting Curator for African Art, and Professor of World
Arts and Culture at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Dr.
Mary Nooter Roberts, the exhibit features rare sculptures seldom seen
in the U.S., and for the first time in Los Angeles.
On
display are Luba rulers' regalia and emblems such as the caryatid
thrones, scepters, an anthropomorphic bowstand, a ceremonial ax,
water pipes and a royal cup symbolizing the king’s authority, and
integral in shaping Luba kingdom’s powers and expansion.
Luba
transmitted the kingship rules and regulations and chiefdoms’
history, through the Lukasa Memory Board (from a Southern
California private collection). Made of wood, metal, and colored
beads, Lukasa's visually complex configurations can be decoded, and
its use was often accompanied by recitations, dances, and songs.
Thematically
organized, the exhibit provides a glimpse into the complex gendering
of authority in Luba culture. The art reflects a deliberate ambiguity
of gender, especially during enthronement rites, stemming from the
belief that only the body of a woman is strong enough to hold a
spirit as powerful as the king. As magnets for the spirits and
protectors of the kingship, females were considered important in
upholding the seat of power.
As
a mark of cultural identity and beauty, women were portrayed with
elaborate hairstyles, as well as bearing complex, raised, body
scarification patterns, which accumulated over time and read as text,
telling the woman's life story.
In
addition, intricately carved wooden anthropomorphic headrests, viewed as conduits of dreams, functioned as cooling pillows as well as
protected hair styles.
One
of the exhibit highlights is the iconic Male Mask, thought to
represent the founding hero of Luba, on loan for the first time by
the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, Belgium. Made of
carved wood, it portrays a serene man with a bird perched between
buffalo horns, noted curator Nooter Roberts, a symbol of great
restraint and discretion.
Additional
agents of empowerment on display include works used for healing and
protection as well as objects of divination and transformation. Animal horns or head cavities filled with herbal medicine and other healing substances empowered the figures to deflect malevolent forces, increase personal strength, and promote the community.
Power
figures of the spirit world, pairs of male and female Nkisi,
have their heads directed backwards, signaling that spirits are all
seeing, in all directions.
Luba's aesthetics and royal precepts influenced the art of surrounding regions. Here, one of the most famous pieces is the Bowl-Bearing Figure showing an elderly woman with an elongated face, holding a bowl. As a powerful divination figure she possesses the ability to bring transformation and healing.
Depicting twin guardian spirits with long, clutching legs and beautiful faces, is the one of a kind, Kiteya Royal Bowl with a lid, the only displayed object not made by a single piece of wood.
Luba's aesthetics and royal precepts influenced the art of surrounding regions. Here, one of the most famous pieces is the Bowl-Bearing Figure showing an elderly woman with an elongated face, holding a bowl. As a powerful divination figure she possesses the ability to bring transformation and healing. 
Depicting twin guardian spirits with long, clutching legs and beautiful faces, is the one of a kind, Kiteya Royal Bowl with a lid, the only displayed object not made by a single piece of wood.
In addition, commemorative works displayed here are sculptures of a Hermaphrodite Figure and Buffalo Mask.
Complementing
the pre-colonial art is the contemporary installation by Luba artist
Aimé Mpane, Congo, Shadow of the Shadow (2005), representing
a strong male figure made of 4,652 matchsticks, casting a shadow on the wall. The installation, borrowed from the Smithsonian National
Museum of African Art, expresses the paradox of human strength,
fragility, as well as a spirit of courage and resilience.
A
five-minute video produced by Agnes Stauber, provides a further
glimpse into Luba royal practices and include archival portraits of
chiefs and artists.
This
exhibit reverberates Luba masterworks' elegance and beauty, a
legacy to this artistic tradition.
The
exhibit runs through January 5, 2014, at the Los Angeles County
Museum of Art (LACMA) Hammer Building, Level 3, located at 5905
Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90036. For more information call
(323) 857-6000 or visit http://www.lacma.org/
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