Nyamwezi Statue, Tanzania, c. 1960

Nyamwezi sculptors carved Chieftain thrones with a human figure carved in relief on the back. The Nyamwezi are famous for their figures carved from a dark, heavy wood with a glossy polish. They tend to have very elongated features and the eyes are inset with coloured circular beads. These elongated figures with distorted limbs were used in water rituals. Their statuary is quite rare and inevitably unrecognised. Height: 110 cm Reproduced: Catalogue “Africa Babel: the Art of a Continent”, p. 129
 
Exhibitions:
2022-2024 Island of Fuerteventura “Art Africa: Ancestral Light”. Lighthouse of the Entallada. Cabildo of Fuerteventura.
2021-2022 Panama City. Government of Panama. “Art Africa: the spirit of the ancestors”. Ministry of Culture Headquarters. Casco Viejo.
2019-2020 Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Caja Canarias Foundation. “Africa-Babel: the art of a Continent”. Headquarters Plaza Patriotismo.
2013-2015 Museum of Art of Africa and Oceania (Madao). La Granja de San Ildefonso, Segovia.
2005 “Black Africa”, Leather Museum.
2004 “Black Africa”. Caixa Laietana Foundation, Barcelona. Main exhibition hall