Art of the Baga
Subtitle: a drama of cultural reinvention
By: by Frederick Lamp ; forewords by Simon Ottenberg and Djibril Tamsir Niane ; with contributions by Sekou Beka Bangoura ... [et al.].
Contributors: Museum for African Art (New York, N.Y.); Baltimore Museum of Art.
Publisher: Museum for African Art; Prestel
Published: 1996
Place of publication: New York; Munich
Language: eng
Number of pages: 267
Subjects: Arts, Baga; Arts, Black -- Guinea; Baga (African people) -- Rites and ceremonies
Description: Art of the Baga: A Drama of Cultural Reinvention traces the art and cultural history of these very special African people from their legendary flight from the mystical highlands of the interior of Guinea to the coast, in their attempt to conserve their own religious ritual, to the eventual destruction of their traditions at mid century with the conversion to Islam and, with independence from France, the establishment of the Republic of Guinea under an iconoclastic Marxist regime.

In the book, the Baga voice is heard prominently in the direct testimony of three Baga writers and forty Baga consultants of all ages and background experience, from ten-year-old boys to elders and ritual leaders of over 100 years of age. Artistic creation and reinvention form the core of issues raised throughout the art historical drama.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 263-265).
"Published in conjunction with an exhibition of the same title organized and presented by The Museum for African Art, New York, in cooperation with The Baltimore Museum of Art. The exhibition will travel to The Baltimore Museum of Art and other museums"--T.p. verso.