Constructing African Art Histories for the Lagoons of Côte d’Ivoire. Monica Blackmun Visona, Constructing African Art Histories for the Lagoons of Côte d’Ivoire, Ashgate, 2010

Abstract

This essay reviews Constructing African Art Histories for the Lagoons of Côte d’Ivoire, by Monica Blackmun Visonà. After reviewing previous publications and approaches to the study of art and culture from the lagoon region of southeastern Côte d’Ivoire, Visonà proceeds to discuss the arts of this region based on her field work during three field visits conducted during the 1980s, and attempts to construct a revisionist interpretation of these arts. The arts of healing and shrine arts, arts of leadership, age-set festivals and performance arts, and recent developments in the arts of the region are considered in individual chapters. The book is remarkable for its clarity of presentation, and for its frequent references to Western art history and its methodologies.

Keywords

• Lagoons
• Côte d’Ivoire
• comparative methodologies
• Western/African arts
• ‘tribal styles’
• healing
• leadership
• prestige
• age-set festivals
• performance arts
• global context