In today's economic times, money is on everyone's minds - so it seems especially fitting that a group of marvelously
diverse metal currency objects from the Alan Helms collection in Boston has just been posted to the New Additions page.

Among the many forms that have served as currency in Africa's past -- salt, shells, beads, indigenous coins, European
coins, jewelry, livestock, woven cloth -- perhaps the most striking are the forged metal forms often based on actual
weapons and tools.

In Africa, forging has been regarded as a transformative process that is likened to the creation of life itself.  Blacksmiths
were highly admired and held high social status in many cultures and, in some West African societies they were actually
feared for their powerful skills in metalworking which was considered a form of magic.

I hope that you will enjoy the offerings from the collection that range from the simple forms of the Nkaushu dowel currency
to the intriguing form of the Lerale copper rod currency to the elegant Kundja hoe currency.
*FEATURED OBJECT*
Lerale copper rod currency
Additional currency from the Alan Helms Collection can be seen on the Currency Page.
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New additions - March 5, 2009
Chokwe staff - SOLD
New additions - December 10, 2008
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New additions - November 11, 2008
New additions - October 21, 2008
New additions - October 28, 2008
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New additions - October 6, 2008
CLICK HERE to go to a page that contains photos I took at the exhibition
"Fragments du Vivant: African Sculpture from the Liliane and Michel Durand-Dessert Collection"
that was held in conjunction with Parcours des Mondes 2008 in Paris this year.

I've also included a few photos from the 2007 and 2008 Parcours des Mondes shows as well as 3 pages
from BRUNEAF in Brussels in 2008.

(link will open in a new window)
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New additions - September 9, 2008

African currency from the Alan Helms collection.
CLICK HERE to go to the main page for the currency from the Alan Helms collection.
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The theme of this round of new additions is animals in Tribal Art, a subject that has been the focus of
many exhibitions and books over the years.

Animals have played an important part in the lives of people since the beginning of mankind and are widely
depicted in various types of objects produced for ritual and functional purposes. In Africa, praise-poems
sing of them; proverbs depict them; traditional sculpture portrays them; myths and fables narrate their
actions. Some animals have ritual significance, while others are symbols of power or royalty, or are
associated with supernatural powers of transformation, sorcery, and primal knowledge.

Whatever the context, the representation of animals in Tribal Art, from the realistic to the wildly
zoomorphic, is fascinating.
New additions - August 25, 2008
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* Featured objects *
Chokwe or Luvale Chisaluke mask
Jolly Society mask with bird superstructure
Bamana boli - SOLD
Most of the staffs and sticks in the photo above are available on the Staffs page; new ones are listed below.