Phyllis Galembo: Maske - Hardcover

4.48

42 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1905712170 ISBN 13: 9781905712175

Publisher: Chris Boot, 2010

The clothes we wear invariably telegraph information about our identity, our place in society and the stories we wish to convey about ourselves. The fantastically colorful costumes specific to African and Caribbean rituals and celebrations go several steps further, transforming ordinary people into mythic figures and magicians, tricksters and gods, and symbolizing the roles their wearers play in the ancient dramas that form the cornerstones of their cultural heritage. Phyllis Galembo began photographing the characters and costumes of African masquerade in Nigeria in 1985, and since then she has continued developing her theme throughout Africa and the Caribbean. This volume collects 108 thrilling carnival photographs from Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Zambia and Haiti. In magnificent color shots, Galembo's subjects pose in striped bodysuits that cover the entire body, including the face; or outfits made entirely of bunched greenery; or a lacquered wooden mask topped with a headdress featuring full-body models of other characters; or an oversize misshapen animal head and plywood wings. The carnival characters, rooted in African religion and spirituality, are presented in chapters organized by tribal or carnival tradition and are accompanied by Galembo's personal commentary, shedding light on the characters and costumes portrayed, and on the events in which they play a pivotal role. Maske is a serious contribution to ethnographic study, a photo-essay about fashion and an assembly of superb images.

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About the Author:

Phyllis Galembo is professor of art at the University of Albany, State University of New York. Her photographs have been exhibited at institutions around the world, including the American Museum of Natural History, New York; Fashion Institute of Technology, New York; George Eastman House, Rochester, New York; Kr�yol Factory, Paris; Museum f�r V�lkerkunde, Vienna; San Francisco Airport Museum; Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York; Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C.; Tang Museum, Saratoga Springs, New York; and Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography. Her work has been collected by institutions, including the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; New York Public Library; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Rockefeller Foundation, New York; and Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut. In 1994, Galembo received a Senior Fulbright Research Award to photograph Kings, Chiefs and Women of Power: Images from Nigeria. She received a Hasselblad Masters Award in 2001 and an Artist’s Fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts in 2010. Galembo’s previous books include Divine Inspiration: From Benin to Bahia (1993), Vodou: Visions and Voices of Haiti (1998), and Dressed for Thrills: 100 Years of Halloween Costumes and Masquerade (2002).

Review:

"If there is any book out there right now that truly justifies why art and photo books still exist, it's got to be Phyllis Galembo's Maske. I love this book!" --D. Scot Miller, San Francisco Bay Guardian

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