African "runners" appeared on the Western art scene shortly after the 19671970 Biafran Civil War, when they began exporting artifacts to Europe and America. These native-born dealers, who procure art in Africa through family or business connections, are the major sources to overseas customers of old tribal art, the supply of which is rapidly dwindling. Art Treasures From African Runners features an eclectic collection of more than nine hundred never-before-published photographs of African art and describes the methods of the runners who brought these objects to America. A collector with hands-on knowledge of the African art trade, John R. Rohner presents African art from a fresh angle, offering a fascinating portrait of cultural contrast as he defines the differences between African and Western art dealers and details his own experiences with runners. His personal anecdotes give life to the images collected in this remarkable assemblage, which is the result of twelve years spent selecting a broad range of objects of wood, bone, ivory, metal, stone, animal hide, textiles, and ceramics from the vans of the runners. Rohner's collection represents the work of more than one hundred African tribes--from as far west as the Bissagos Islands and as far east as Tanzania and Madagascar--and showcases many rare and unusual pieces, including a number from unknown origins that will be of interest to Africanists.
Offering a wealth of comparative information, Art Treasures From African Runners is ideal for the collector as well as the general reader with an interest in African art.
John R. Rohner is curator and professor emeritus of the University of Colorado Museum in Boulder. He taught Museology and techniques of conservation and restoration to Africans from Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda for over twenty years.
A unique aspect of the trade in African artifacts is the "runner," Africans who acquire objects by various means in Africa and then visit Europe and America to seek out collectors. A thorough study of their role in the development of African art collections would be a valuable contribution to art history. Unfortunately, this is not such a book, as the text primarily consists of colorful tales and reminiscences by the author of runners he has met or heard about as a collector. The bulk of the volume consists of a catalog of hundreds of objects acquired from runners, which can function as a visual survey of African sculpture. However, it is not clear in what way these objects are reflective of the runners from whom they were purchased. Nevertheless, as a collector's memoir that addresses a rarely discussed aspect of collecting and as an extensive catalog of objects, this book can be recommended for library collections with strong interests in African art.
-Eugene C. Burt, Seattle
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
