Magazines - Tribal Art Spring 2010

By Bérénice Geoffroy-Schneiter

Introduction
Three exhibitions, or three views of the arts of adornment, which the folly for appearance and beauty has engendered in all corners of the globe. From the Musée Dapper to the Musée Barbier-Mueller, by way of the Maison Rouge in Paris, the art of being beautiful is being examined in all its facets. Through leopard-skin or beetle-wing headpieces, shell pectorals, and beaded diadems, an entire and highly intricate language of identity is transmitted, one that fashion designers and tribal and modern art aficionados alike can learn from.

At the Musée Dapper Masculine Seduction
It is an unusual object, and one of rare sophistication, which alone sums up the importance of male adornment in the African world: a corset decorated with red and turquoise beads, which the Dinka of Sudan proudly wear. Though it accentuates the waist and draws the eye to the curves of the lower back and buttocks, nothing could be less frivolous than this delicate accessory. What our Western eyes perceive as an exotic and rather feminine accessory is actually an important indicator of age and rank, and serves as an “identity card” within the culture that produced it.