Makonde

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The Makonde are a Bantu people in southeastern Tanzania . Another considerable part of the Makonde people has been settling across the Rovuma River in Mozambique for a long time . Their language is the ChiMakonde .

history

The German postage stamp from 1994 for the anniversary “125 Years of the Museum of Ethnology in Leipzig ” shows a Makonde mask

The Makonde are one of the five main ethnic groups in Tanzania. They live relatively isolated on the Makonde Plateau, which is still difficult to access today . As a result, they were less affected by colonial development. The exact role of the Tanzanian Makonde during the so-called Maji-Maji uprising 1905–1907 is difficult to research today, especially since it is not a hierarchically managed ethnic group, but rather a widely dispersed community. Investigations, especially literature evaluations, by the Hamburg Mawingu Collection (Peter-Andreas Kamphausen) have shown that only a few local Makonde groups are likely to have sided with the insurgents. This was probably related to the fact that the Makonde, among other ethnic groups that were significantly involved in the uprising (e.g. Ngoni), repeatedly suffered as a result of attacks.

Furthermore, the Makonde apparently remembered their military strength from so-called “punitive expeditions” of the German colonial troops in earlier years. It is noteworthy in this context that the respected German ethnologist Karl Weule in 1906 only led his famous expedition to the Makonde in the autumn of 1905, again to the “calm” extreme south-east of what was then German East Africa (now Tanzania), among other things, and to a large extent there because the German military leadership had advised him not to travel to more northerly regions according to his original plans due to the unsafe situation.

The Makonde are known for their cultural conservatism and willingness to defend their land and way of life. So have z. B. many Makonde fought for the Frelimo during the war of independence in Mozambique .

In Tanzania and Mozambique the Makonde are socially and politically integrated, the fourth president of Mozamnik, Filipe Nyusi , belongs to the ethnic group. Even Benjamin Mkapa , President of Tanzania from 1995 to 2005, is a Makonde. The situation is different in Kenya, where families emigrated, particularly in the 1930s, to work for the British colonial rulers. The Makonde living in Kenya did not receive citizenship after the independence of the state and were considered stateless for decades . In October 2016, hundreds of Makonde marched from Kwale to Nairobi, demanding a meeting with President Uhuru Kenyatta . The Makonde were then recognized as the 43rd people of Kenya, and by November 2017 1,200 ID cards had been issued to Makonde.

Carving art

Makonde carvers on the Mwenge market in Dar es Salaam at work

Isolated from and resistant to outside influences, the Makonde, who are exceptional artisans (wood carvers), developed a high degree of ethnic self-confidence. The best-known Makonde artists moved to Dar es Salaam in the 1950s , from where their carving art gained international recognition in the following decades and has since been represented in important collections. B. in the Aurnhammer Collection and the Hamburg Mawingu Collection . One of the internationally most important contemporary Makonde artists is George Lilanga , who has developed his own, unmistakable style. Many important Makonde carvers of the "first hour" who shaped the image of the so-called "Modern Makonde Art" (e.g. Samaki, Dastani, Chanuo, Karinto, etc.) are no longer alive. George Lilanga died on June 27, 2005 at the age of 70 in Dar es Salaam. The HMC: George Lilanga Collection has dedicated a systematic catalog raisonné to the artist.

The Makonde carving art had its high point beginning in the 1960s until the early 1990s. After that, a number of the formative carvers died and there were (and are) only a few successors who have mastered the art of carving with comparable quality and expressiveness. However, all master carvers had students who z. Some of them are still able to produce works of above-average quality today. This includes B. Mbangwende Moris (Chanuo student). Malangange also tries in the Chanuo style. Augostino Mwanga was a student and long-term employee of Dastani. Lugwani has developed its own direction within the framework of the Mawingu style.

The market for Makonde carving has always moved between impressive masterpieces (which then often found their way into international collections as collectors' items) and mass-produced so-called "airport art". Today there is clearly a predominance of inferior “tourist art”, polished to a high gloss or blackened with shoe polish, in smaller formats, which is offered in various places in East Africa (e.g. Mwenge in Dar es Salaam / Tanzania or in Nairobi / Kenya ).

literature

  • Helke Kammerer-Grothaus: sculptures made of ebony - art of the Makonde. Museum in the Kornhaus Kloster Heiligkreuztal. Marion and Hans Eberhard Aurnhammer collection . Heiligkreuztal, 1991, ISBN 3-921312-45-0 .
  • J. Anthony Stout: Modern Makonde Sculpture. Nairobi 1966. (English)
  • John Stoner: Makonde. The Heritage Library of African Peoples. The Rosen Publishing Group, New York 1998, ISBN 0-8239-2016-X . (English)
  • P. Arnold Walloschek: Ebony and ivory - the richness of Makonde carving. EOS Verlag Erzabtei St. Ottilien, St. Ottilien 1982, ISBN 3-88096-187-5 .
  • Art makondé - tradition et modernité. Association francaise d´action artistique, 1989. (French, Portuguese)
  • Hermann Pollig: Makonde - An East African Documentation. Exhibition catalog with photos by Jesper Kirknes. Institute for Foreign Relations, Stuttgart 1971.
  • Max Mohl: Masterpieces of the Makonde - an East African documentary. Volume I. Self-published, 1977, ISBN 3-925761-50-0 .
  • Max Mohl: Masterpieces of the Makonde II - Ebony Sculptures from East Africa, a comprehensive Photo Documentation. Masterpieces of Makonde II - ebony sculptures from East Africa, a picture documentation (supplement to volume I) self-published, 1990/95, ISBN 3-925761-56-X . (German English)
  • Max Mohl: Masterpieces of the Makonde III - Ebony Sculptures from East Africa, a comprehensive Photo Documentation. Masterworks of Makonde III - ebony sculptures from East Africa, an image documentation; Self-published, 1997, ISBN 3-925761-57-8 . (German English)
  • J. Gus Liebenow: Colonial rule and political development in Tanzania - The case of the Makonde. East African Publishing House, Nairobi 1971. (English)
  • Jesper Kirknaes, Jörn Korn: Makonde. Rhodos International Science and Art Publishers, Copenhagen 1999, ISBN 87-7245-731-7 . (English)
  • Vital Dibr, Tatiana Dibr: Cosmic Art Makonde. Cosmic Art Museum, New York, Liberty Publishing House New York. (English)
  • Elisabeth Grohs, Uta Reuster-Jahn: Mawingu - Sculptures of the Makonde. Exhibition catalog on the occasion of the exhibition at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Philosophicum May / June 1990 and exhibition at the Landesmuseum Mainz, July / August 1990.
  • Aidron Duckworth: Modern Makonde Sculpture. Syracuse University exhibition catalog.
  • Roger Fouquer: The Makonde and their art. Translation by P. Einhard Bundschuh. (Original title of the English edition: The Makonde and their Sculpture ). 2nd Edition. Vier-Türme-Verlag, Münsterschwarzach Abbey, 1993, ISBN 3-87868-470-3 .
  • Jörn Korn, Jasper Kirknaes: Modern Makonde Art. The Hamlyn Publishing Group United, London / New York / Sydney / Toronto 1974, ISBN 0-600-36171-3 . (English)
  • Kurt Krieger: East African sculpture. Staatliche Museen Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-88609-251-8 .
  • Zachary Kingdon: A Host of Devils - The History and context of the making of Makonde spirit sculpture. Routledge Harwood Anthropology, Taylor & Francis Group, London 2002, ISBN 0-415-27727-2 . (English)
  • Madan Sapra: Contemporary Makonde Sculpture - The Madan Sapra Collection Nairobi, Kenya, East Africa. David Love, California, 1977. (English)
  • Harold Haydon: Modern Makonde Sculpture. Exhibition catalog for the exhibition at the Renaissance Society Gallery, University of Chicago, October to November 1967.
  • Gordon L. Olson: Spirits in Ebony - Woodcarvings of the African Makonde. Grand Rapids Public Museum Publication, Michigan. (English)
  • Harry G. West: Ethnographic Sorcery. [Across the Makonde in the north of Mozambique ]. University of Chicago Press , 2007. ISBN 978-0-226-89398-3

Web links

Commons : Makonde  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Radha Govil: 'I feel like I am born again': citizenship brings hope to stateless minority in Kenya. November 6, 2017, accessed November 7, 2017 .