Afro-Dit
Report: BRUNEAF XIII
by David Zemanek
The thirteenth Brussels Non-European Art Fair (BRUNEAF), the biggest fair for non-European art, was held from October 6-15, 2003. As usual, there were many fine, interesting objects of high qualityfor the African art collector. So, let me focus on a few galleries that I visited during my trip to the BRUNEAF.
I'll start with Mr. Alex Arthur, who has a fine gallery at the Rue des Chandeliers in Brussel. He was offering a superb Uli ancestor figure, that I think is a really rare piece. A few highlight for me at his gallery were a good, published Yoruba door, a wild We mask, an unusual Bambara marionette, a rare Idoma four headed ungulai crest mask, an old Makonde mask from a German colonial collection, a Dogon stone fragment, and other nice pieces. His gallery is worth visiting.
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To continue, I visited the gallery of Mr. Jo Christiaens, who was presenting African art in three galleries during the BRUNEAF. The offered quality was really good and pieces like an important Kusu ancestor figure and Hemba chief's chair impressed me. Good art was presented at the Eikstraat 23 Rue du Chène and on the gallery on the Rue des Grand Carmes 19.
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There were really nice Baule figures at the Gallery L'esprit de L'art - Ethnic and Oriental Art.
The Gallery Cédric Le Dauphin, Rue Lebeau 25 were offering a really unique collection of objects of the Sunduk-Badajao tribe of the Philippines. There is also a catalogue available to this fine exhibition that tells the function and the use in the society. Some other pieces like old weapons were also very interesting.
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There was an unusual group of sculptures from Costa Rica, the Gallery Rabier cy Art Dominique et Francois at the Rue des Minimes 8-10.
Loed and Mia van Bussel were offering (as usual) a fine and chosen selection of artifacts of the tribal world. I thought the Nit mask from New Ireland that was collected during the “Deutsche Marine Expedition” (1908) was a really nice collectors piece.
From Antwerp, Desguinlei 90, Mr. Lucien van de Valde was exhibiting nice pieces like a rare and published Ifa bowl, a fine Kongo fetish, a Makonde helmet mask and other high quality pieces.
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At J. Visser's gallery, Rue Lebeau 37, there was an exhibition with a focus on Yoruba art. A catalogue that is really useful for the collector is available on his gallery. The offered Yoruba quality shows provenances like Pinto collection, carvers like Areogun and others.
Voyageurs & Curieux from France showed a fine selection of oceanic and tribal art. A group of magic charms were particularly impressive.
A fine selection of pieces from the Ivory Coast were at the Gallerie Valluet-Ferrandin from Paris, along with many nice Yoruba pieces and a good selection of excellent South Sea weapons and a number of other interesting items.
Adrian Schlag from Köln had a really good offering. I was struck with a superb Mama mask of unique form. A Songye figure of the Zirngibel collection with an oily patina, a spherical object and a fine small Dan passport mask were my favorite pieces there.
David Rosenthal from San Francisco had fine art of the oceanic world. A nice New Ireland head was a especially interesting to me.
The German Gallery, Malichin, from Baden-Baden was offering a fine selection of Lobi figures that are hard to find in this quality, as well as fine Baule figures.
The Gallery Giltsoff from Spain was offering many nice pieces from the Kongo area from Spanish collections and early Sepik pieces from Papua-New Guinea.
Dimondstein Gallery for Tribal Arts from Los Angeles had a fine selection of good quality pieces of Africa. I was very much impressed by a fine Lobi figure with a wild expression.
The Gallery Jo de Buck, Rue des Minimes 43 had fine African art. A highlight was a couple exhibition, including a rare Mangbetu couple. There was also a fine fragment of a royal Ifa bowl.
At F. Coppens' C. Gallery, many pieces of the tribal world of Asia/Indonesia and Papua were offered. One especially unusual and rare item was a fine Jivaro shrunken head.
Kevin Conru, Rue Bodenbroek 8 A, offered a good selection of pieces from South Africa and from the South Seas. A really extraordinary piece for me was fantastic Maori bowl that is hard to find in such a quality.
A special exhibition of African Headgear “Chapo” was at the Congo Gallery. It was most impressive to see such a selection of headgears.
Of course, many other galleries had pieces of good quality, and you can find further information at http://www.bruneaf.com
For me personally, the fair had not so many highlights. Another problem was that Christie's held a special auction sale in Paris at the time of the BRUNEAF. The mood in the beginning was not so positive, but in the end there was some light. But I think visiting the BRUNEAF and Brussels is always worthwhile; so much good quality is hard to find. It is good to improve your knowledge and to find pieces that could fit into your collection. And, of course, there are many collectors and dealers there that will share your passion with you.
Text and images copyrighted to David Zemanek, 2003.