PYTHON SPIRIT ON THE BAGA COAST. A SCIENTIFIC AND ART HISTORICAL INVESTIGATION. Questo articolo non è disponibile.PYTHON SPIRIT ON THE BAGA COAST. A SCIENTIFIC AND ART HISTORICAL INVESTIGATION

Il volume è un esame a più voci, interdisciplinare, della cultura Baga della Guinea e, in particolare della rappresentazione della masquerade del serpente all'interno di tale cultura. Questa pubblicazione si presenta inoltre come la più ampia ricerca sul rapporto tra etno-zoologia e arte e rituale in Africa. Il testo inizia con un'esplorazione approfondita delle prove etnologiche e storico-artistiche della masquerade del serpente tra i Baga della Guinea durante la quale un’enorme figura di serpente in legno che rappresenta un pitone viene portata sulla testa. Mai vista o fotografata da un estraneo, tale ritualità è scomparsa negli anni Cinquanta insieme alla maggior parte delle performance quale conseguenza dei rigidi divieti nei confronti delle religioni indigene imposti dalla jihad islamica. L’approfondimento del contesto rituale è seguito da un'analisi approfondita delle figure di serpente Baga oggi presenti in collezioni in Europa, nelle Americhe e in Africa, nonché delle altre rappresentazioni del pitone nell'arte rituale della regione.

Frederick John Lamp is retired from Yale University as Curator of African Art at the Yale University Art Gallery and lecturer in the History of Art and in Theater Studies, 2004-2014. From 1981 to 2003, he was Head of the Department of the Art of Africa, the Americas, and Oceania at The Baltimore Museum of Art, and taught African art at The Johns Hopkins University, the Maryland Institute College of Art, and elsewhere. From 1973 to 1977, he was archivist of the Eliot Elisofon Archive and Head of Higher Education at the Museum of African Art, Washington, DC, and lecturer at Georgetown, George Washington, and Catholic Universities. He holds a Ph.D. in the History of Art from Yale University, 1982. He has conducted extensive field research over four decades in Sierra Leone and Guinea, with many fellowships from the Fulbright Scholar Award, the Smithsonian Institution, National Endowment for the Humanities, The National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, and others. His numerous publications include Ancestors in Search of Descendants: Stone Effigies of the Ancient Sapi (2018); Continuing Life Histories of African Art: The Collection of Charles B. Benenson at the Yale University Art Gallery (co-authored, 2012); See the Music, Hear the Dance: Rethinking Africa at The Baltimore Museum of Art, (ed., 2004); Art of the Baga: A Drama of Cultural Reinvention (1996); La Guinée et ses Heritages Culturels (1992); with invited contributions to many edited books; and articles in African Arts, Afrique: Archéologie & Arts, The Drama Review, The Dictionary of Art, International Encyclopedia of Dance, History in Africa, Mande Studies, and The Art Bulletin, among many others.

Frederick John Lamp is retired from Yale University as Curator of African Art at the Yale University Art Gallery and lecturer in the History of Art and in Theater Studies, 2004-2014. From 1981 to 2003, he was Head of the Department of the Art of Africa, the Americas, and Oceania at The Baltimore Museum of Art, and taught African art at The Johns Hopkins University, the Maryland Institute College of Art, and elsewhere. From 1973 to 1977, he was archivist of the Eliot Elisofon Archive and Head of Higher Education at the Museum of African Art, Washington, DC, and lecturer at Georgetown, George Washington, and Catholic Universities. He holds a Ph.D. in the History of Art from Yale University, 1982. He has conducted extensive field research over four decades in Sierra Leone and Guinea, with many fellowships from the Fulbright Scholar Award, the Smithsonian Institution, National Endowment for the Humanities, The National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, and others. His numerous publications include Ancestors in Search of Descendants: Stone Effigies of the Ancient Sapi (2018); Continuing Life Histories of African Art: The Collection of Charles B. Benenson at the Yale University Art Gallery (co-authored, 2012); See the Music, Hear the Dance: Rethinking Africa at The Baltimore Museum of Art, (ed., 2004); Art of the Baga: A Drama of Cultural Reinvention (1996); La Guinée et ses Heritages Culturels (1992); with invited contributions to many edited books; and articles in African Arts, Afrique: Archéologie & Arts, The Drama Review, The Dictionary of Art, International Encyclopedia of Dance, History in Africa, Mande Studies, and The Art Bulletin, among many others.