Barkcloth panel c. 1930

panel, pigment, textile

natural stone pattern

rippled sketch texture

toned paper

panel

pigment

textile

possibly oil pastel

stoneware

underpainting

watercolour bleed

natural texture

organic texture

watercolor

This barkcloth panel, created by the Mbuti people around 1930, showcases a distinctive geometric pattern in black lines on a brown background. Barkcloth, a traditional material in Central Africa, is made from the inner bark of trees and often used for clothing, wall hangings, or ceremonial objects. The panel's abstract design likely holds symbolic meaning within the Mbuti culture, reflecting their artistic expression and connection to their environment. The piece, currently housed at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, offers a glimpse into the artistic traditions of the Mbuti people and the craftsmanship of their barkcloth creations.

Comments

minneapolisinstituteofart about 1 year ago

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Mbuti men collect pieces of the inner layer of tree bark, soak them in water, and pound them until they are thin and pliable. Mbuti women then use twigs or their fingers to decorate these canvases with intricate designs that show repetitions of a single element or various groups of motifs. The Mbuti people live in the Ituri rainforest in the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and the abstract imagery in their art expresses the shapes and motions of their natural environment. The barkcloth paintings can be seen as maps of the forest, invoking trails and webs, insects and animals, leaves and shelters. Yet these visual compositions also refer to the language of Mbuti music, characterized by syncope, free improvisation, and polyrhythm. As such, the painted barkcloths become graphic soundscapes, rendering a multitude of sonic events in conjunction with silence, captured by the paintings’ negative space.