Descriptions du produit:
From Publishers Weekly:
In this specialized but illuminating work, Harvard-trained
anthropologist Steiner analyzes the assumptions behind the work of
native African art traders in Cote d'Ivoire, who serve as the link
between African artists and Western collectors. He describes the trading
process as not only a complex economic system but one of shifting
cross-cultural exchange in which the image of Africa is continually
redefined. Steiner classifies the range of sources and art objects
available in the trading city of Abidjan, then describes how traders
work. He analyzes different forms of bargaining (from careful
negotiation with Western dealers to staged performance for tourists).
More intriguingly, he argues that Western scholarship has influenced
classification of art objects by ethnicity rather than by region, and
observes how Africans seek authenticity in things Western, while
visitors want symbols of a "primitive" lifestyle--as when he witnesses
the barter of a mask for a Seiko watch. In the West, he notes, the
practical value of African objects like baskets is ignored, while an
obsession with the growing value of African art tends to negate
appreciation of its beauty. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --Ce texte fait référence
à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.
Book Description:
Based on extensive research in West Africa, Christopher Steiner's book
presents a richly detailed description of the economic networks that
transfer art objects from their site of use and production in Africa to
their point of consumption in art galleries and shops throughout Europe
and America. In the course of this fascinating transcultural journey,
African art acquires different meanings. It means one thing to the rural
villagers who create and still use it in ritual and performance, another
to the Muslim traders who barter and resell it, and something else to
the buyers and collectors in the West who purchase it for investment and
display it in their homes.
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