Art professor stresses practicality
West African tribes utilize art objects
By MARILYN MeMULLEN Kansan Staff Writer
West African tribes utilize the objects which we consider only from an aesthetic point of view, Roy Siebert, professor of art history at Indiana University, said Tuesday night. His statement came during a lecture on the role of art objects in African society.
Siebert spoke to a crowd of about 400 people in Woodruff Auditorium. His speech was part of the Humanities Lecture series.
Siebert said most people tended to associate African art only with sculpture. While there were no forms of two-dimensional painting, he added, carvings and metal works were also important forms of tribal art.
Siebert illustrated the talk with slides which he took while in Africa. He showed masks, carvings and sculptures used by several tribes.
"We tend to separate art forms from functions of society," the bearded artist said. "The West Africans incorporate every art form into ritual procedures."
One mask he showed was supposed to connect the world of the living with the world of the dead.
and was also used in criminal proceedings when a murderer was being sought.
"The mask is so important socially that it cannot be judged aesthetically," he said.
Siebert discussed art objects from the historical aspect, saying some objects dated back to the 16th century. He said the uses of the masks, carvings and sculptures has not changed.
Sculptured figures, Siebert said were used primarily in funeral rites. He showed statues which, he said served as houses for departed souls. He said several of the tribes believed that souls continued to be active for the good of the living.
Sculptured heads, which correspond to death masks, are used in funerals which take place after a body has been buried.
Siebert said persons were usually buried the day after they died, and it often took days or the family to gather enough relatives and regalia for a proper funeral. Death masks, which Siebert described as "associational portraits," were substituted for the previously buried corpse.
Many of the death mask sculptures were flat with features
Roy Siebert, chairman of the art department of Indiana University, speaks to an African student after his lecture Monday evening on the topic of African art.
Spirit of St. Pat's Day shown across nation
By United Press International
More than 100,000 New York City Irish cavorted up Fifth Avenue in a river of green Tuesday. Mayor Richard J. Dalile's idle legions in Chicago grumblingly consigned the day to history as the time of the great St. Patrick's Day drought.
Illinois Gov. Richard B. Ogilvie, who signed a bill that placed the state's 1970 primary election on St. Patrick's Day thus forcing the closing of all bars until 6 p.m.-sought to blame it on "the British government, evil leprechauns, Democrats and Ian Pailey".
President Nixon observed the day appropriately in a colorful White House ceremony marking the formal arrival of a new Irish ambassador to the United States.
The ambassador, William Warnock, brought along a traditional glass bowl of fresh shamrock flown from Ireland, and his wife, Dorothy, pinned shamrock sprays on the lapel of Nixon's gray suit and on Pat Nixon's pale green dress. In New York, Mayor John Lindsay marched hatless and coatless with his son, John Jr., 9, at the head of the Police Department's Emerald Society Band.
While the Chicago Irish sulked Tuesday, Ogilvie issued a statement obviously designed
molded on with pieces of clay. Details were added to personalize the portrait so it could be associated only with one person.
Mar. 18
1970 KANSAN 7
Siebert showed one such sculpture depicting a woman and child. He said such portraits always denoted queen mothers, who played an important part in tribal political hierarchy.
"I realize this will put the celebration of this great day under a severe handicap," he said. "But I am sure that any Irishman worth his shamrock can make up for lost time after the polls close. By 10 p.m. some of the celebrants may even have forgotten what we did to St. Patrick's Day."
Whatever the art objects depicted, Siebert said, they were always associated with leadership and rulers. He said heads tended to be quite exaggerated in figures, which showed the importance placed on wisdom.
to make up with the wearers of the green.
With the temperature down to 30 degrees, it was a day for Irish whisky but rather a poor place for it, because Shamrock officially is dry. However, a knowing newspaper publisher reported after a tour around town that spirits were being found somewhere.
He showed several figures depicting kings. Each was personalized not by facial features, but by behavioral characteristics or talents.
One figure showed a king with a drum. Siebert said the king had been noted for his extraordinary skills as a drummer during his life.
Green beer appeals to KU Irish
Many students at KU observed St. Patrick's Day by wearing green clothing, but others found it much easier to visit one of the local taverns and tip a few glasses of green beer.
Four of the Lawrence taverns, the Gas Light, Bierstube, Jayhawk and Stables, estimated they served 385 gallons of green beer to KU students.
Carved swords symbolized royalty, Siebert said. One he showed had a carved handle depicting three heads. Siebert said it was an illustration of a proverb which translated as, "Three heads are better than one." He explained the sword carried two types of symbolism. One was the outward symbolism which declared leadership and authority. There was also an inner symbolism, which applied only to the ruler. The carving served to remind him to counsel with elders before making important decisions.
The color of the beer did not seem to affect the enthusiasm of the drinkers.
Siebert said he refused to refer to African art as "primitive." He said that because of the deep and relevant social necessity of the art objects, they should be referred to as forms of tribal art. He added that African tribes did not associate aesthetic evaluation with the objects so vital to their ways of life.
"The tribes are very concerned with the preservation of the purity of the chiefs' souls," he said. Gold crowns and pendants, worn by priests and rulers, symbolized the purity of the ruler.
"We have not studied the relevance of African art forms with enough depth as yet," Siebert said. "But we have begun to
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