From Poison Arrows To Park Avenue: An Interview With Art Dealer James Stephenson

What purpose does tribal art serve in their communities?

With traditional art, there are two levels. I'm going for aesthetics, and there's a formulation of aesthetics that's sort of established with the level of art I'm dealing with. But traditional art has always existed in their communities and will continue to for a while. A lot of these communities are gone. A lot of the tribes of Africa and the world are gone. Period. Then, 90% of the people that are still from these cultures are gone to the modern world. Carving tradition is also gone, but there's still a small group who might use fetishes, like witch doctors. There are still witch doctors in Africa that will take these pieces, and believe these pieces will heal someone. They'll do ceremony blood, medicine, put it on the piece, and then the piece will communicate to them secrets of what they need to know to help the group of people.

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