Jan-Lodewijk Grootaers, Alexander Ives Bortolot, eds.. Visions from the Forests: The Art of Liberia and Sierra Leone. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2014. 239 pp. $39.95, paper, ISBN 978-0-9893718-1-0. Reviewed by Fred Smith Published on H-AfrArts (February, 2015) Commissioned by Jean M. Borgatti (Clark Univeristy) Visions from the Forests: The Art of Liberia organized and introduces the section entitled “Re‐ and Sierra Leone was produced by the Minneapo‐ membering Bill Siegmann” (who died in 2011). It lis Institute of Arts to accompany an exhibition consists of statements by Siegmann himself and that will travel to four American museums. All of eight of his colleagues and friends that reveal not the works in the exhibition and illustrated in the only Bill’s achievements and interests but also his catalogue were collected by Bill Siegmann during personal and professional qualities. His commit‐ his many years of research and travel in Liberia ment to understanding, preserving, and sharing and Sierra Leone. Siegmann was director of the the material culture of Liberia rather than focus Africana Museum at Cuttington University in on a particular area or ethnic group is evident in Liberia, the National Museum of Liberia, and the these accounts, as is his sincere interest in people Brooklyn Museum of Art. The title of the exhibi‐ as individuals and his willingness to help both col‐ tion was selected because Liberia and Sierra leagues and Liberians whenever possible. The Leone are part of a tropical rainforest that runs section also features thirteen informal photo‐ along the West African coast from Guinea to Nige‐ graphs. ria. In support of this title, the general editors de‐ The book’s largest and most informative sec‐ clare, “the forest provides the physical and con‐ tion, “Visions from the Forests,” consists of seven ceptual terrain where actions and ideas are devel‐ essays by scholars with distinctive research inter‐ oped and pursued” (p. 8). Early ffteenth-century ests. The frst essay, “Forests in the Imagination of contact with Europe, immigration of emancipated the Upper Guinea Coast” by Mariane C. Ferme (an‐ slaves in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, thropologist) and Paul Richards (agriculturist), fo‐ and a more recent history of civil war have also cuses on the forest itself--its history and impact on given a particular distinction to the region. the cultures of the area as well as the connection The catalogue is divided into fve sections, the between forest materials and gender. The link be‐ three most significant being a remembrance of tween the forest and the male-controlled Poro So‐ Bill Siegmann, a collection of essays on the arts of ciety, the historical and social role of hunting, as the region, and a catalogue of objects in the exhi‐ well as distinctive attitudes about the bush in con‐ bition itself. Jan-Lodewijk Grootaers, curator of trast to farm and village are briefly discussed. African Art at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Ferme and Richards examine raw materials from H-Net Reviews the forest in relation to gender roles, especially as He concludes with a consideration of male non- they relate to male and female initiation societies, Sande helmet masks based on one particular ex‐ Poro and Sande respectively. The materials that ample in the exhibition (catalogue #21), noting the constitute masquerades--especially wood, raffia, features that differentiate this particular mask cotton cloth, and various trade items--are consid‐ from Sande masks and other types of male helmet ered, but their connection to gender is not always masks. clearly presented. This is especially true of the last The third essay, “Spirits from the Forest: Dan two paragraphs of the section. Masks in Performance and Everyday Life” by The second essay in this section, “Extending Daniel B. Reed (folklorist and ethnomusicoligist), the Stage: Photography and Sande Initiates in the focuses on the formal features and significance of Early Twentieth Century,” by Nanina Guyer Dan spirit masks (ge/gle). Of particular interest (Africanist), is a well-written and fascinating are his research entries from 1997 documenting study of photographs of Sande initiates done by specific mask appearances. However, Reed’s dis‐ early twentieth-century professional photogra‐ cussion of particular masks and their specific uses phers. These images were taken within the village only partially addresses the complexity of the con‐ but not within the Sande enclosure as that would nections between form and function for Dan have been forbidden. Guyer discusses them with‐ masking. Nonetheless, the overall social, religious, in the broader tradition of photographic portrai‐ and performance contexts of Dan masking is well ture in Sierra Leone, emphasizing the work of articulated. Alphonso Lisk-Carew, a Freetown-born photogra‐ “Brass Casting in Liberia,” a short and well- pher. Information on the context of the photo‐ written essay by Barbara Johnson (art historian), graphs is provided by quotes from Thomas surveys a range of brass objects and their produc‐ Alldridge, a colonial administrator who traveled tion as well as the careers of two brass casters. extensively in Sierra Leone during the late nine‐ The penultimate essay by Jan-Lodewijk Grootaers, teenth and early twentieth centuries. Guyer also “Ritual Recycling: Modern Uses of Ancient Stone explores such nonethnographic uses for the pho‐ Sculptures in the Upper Guinea Forest Region,” tographs as picture postcards from the early examines the tradition of stone sculpture in the twentieth century, with their outrageously out-of- area, especially those in the styles referred to as context captions. nomoli and pomdo. Grootaers also discusses relat‐ The most thought-provoking essay, “By Their ed ivory carving and wood sculpture, notably a Fruits You Will Know Them: Sande Mask Carvers wooden male fgure in the Baltimore Museum of Identified,” is by art historian Frederick Lamp. Art dating from 1200 to 1400 CE. He briefly His essay begins with basic information on the presents the historical context and early accounts use, origin, meaning, and general characteristics of these sculptural traditions prior to discussing of the Sande mask. Lamp next states that after in more detail their later re-use or recycling. In forty years of collecting images, he has been able addition, the art works are considered within the to identify ninety-four workshops or styles for wider context of stones believed to have supernat‐ Sande masks. Lamp then connects masks illustrat‐ ural powers. ed in the catalogue to eight workshops, examining The fnal essay in this section, “William Sieg‐ the masks’ formal characteristics, ethnic origin, mann, Advocate for Connoisseurship” by Chris‐ and estimated number of known examples. He il‐ tine Mullen Kreamer (art historian), is a remem‐ lustrates his essay with documentary photographs brance that stresses Siegmann’s love of objects. It and images of similar works in other collections. is also a defense of connoisseurship, which in‐ 2 H-Net Reviews volves a connection with, and an understanding brief overview of Liberian and Sierra Leonean of, the individual work of art and its quality. Krae‐ history, and some references to recent attempts to mer notes that Roy Sieber of Indiana University preserve the history and material culture of the taught his students that the object was “the start‐ region. There is also what seems to me to be un‐ ing and ending point for art-historical enquiry” necessary repetition between the essays and the (p. 122). She stresses that Siegmann was guided by introductions to specific objects. I also found the this approach throughout his career. use of tiny, thumbnail-sized photographs in the The actual catalogue of objects is divided into top margin, when objects were being discussed or eleven sections, each focusing on a different ob‐ mentioned in the essay section, problematic. They ject type: Sande society masks, Mende female fg‐ are far too small to see any detail and therefore ures, Sande society pendants and necklaces, men’s more annoying than helpful. society masks (Poro and Thoma in particular), In general, however, the catalogue is a valu‐ masks of the Dan, Mano, Kono, and Bassa peoples, able and useful resource for anyone interested in miniature masks, game boards, Liberian brass the visual culture of Liberia and Sierra Leone. The (with a full page featuring a Grebo or Kru ring essays cover a variety of topics related to the art with knobs), stone sculpture of the Sapi and Kissi and cultures of the region. High-quality photo‐ peoples, textiles, and prestige arts of the Mende graphs, illustrating the exhibited objects, contrib‐ Vai, Kim, and Teme peoples. Each section has a ute significantly to the book’s visual impact. Docu‐ one-page introduction written by the two general mentary images dating from the late nineteenth editors, except for “Textiles” and “Brass from to the early twenty-first century add a broader Liberia,” which were authored by Natasha Thore‐ historical dimension. Finally, it highlights the per‐ son, a PhD student at the University of Minnesota sonal and professional contributions of Bill Sieg‐ School of Design. Although a few of the introduc‐ mann to the feld of African art, making it a ftting tions repeat information from the more extensive tribute. essays in “Visions From the Forests,” most expand upon the earlier material or interpret it different‐ ly. The book concludes with an appendix in which Lamp discusses the term nowo as a name for the Sande mask. The appendix is followed by an ex‐ tensive bibliography, information about the au‐ thors, an index, and finally, credits. Visions from the Forests: The Art of Liberia and Sierra Leone is a well-organized and clearly written publication that succeeds in highlighting the life and work of Bill Siegmann, especially his commitment to the arts and peoples of Liberia and Sierra Leone, and serving as a catalogue for the diverse range of objects collected by Siegmann and shown in the exhibition.