Pende: Visions of Africa

The Visions of Africa series are absolutely superb. Not only do they cover how art has influenced the individual, but also how religion and style have influenced the art. One of the outstanding features of these books are the black and white photos illustrating how the various art forms were used and the color plates exhibiting various types of art from masks to chairs with captions describing each item. If you love African art than this series is for you.

The Pende masks and masquerading tradition are some of the most interesting in Africa, and yet they still remain fairly unknown to the general public and average collector.With this sort of book, there is often a fine line between those who do field work and those who study from afar. Both camps can yield worthy results, but a presence in one or the other is not a necessary prerequisite for a competent analysis. However, in this case the author, a professor at Columbia University, delivers both in a rigorous and satisfying manner, and I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more. This is a well written, well researched, interesting book with lots of photos, and I would hope to see an expanded version of it down the road before these traditions are gone for good.