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Preview image of work. wood, hair, beads, hide, pigment and cloth,  Bamiléké Yegué Scream Mask 38448

2019.26.a

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Bamiléké Yegué Scream Mask

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Artist

Hervé Youmbi (Hervé Gabriel Ngamago Youmbi) (angui, Central African Republic, 3/25/1973 - )

Title

Bamiléké Yegué Scream Mask

Creation Date

2015-2017

Century

early 21st century

Dimensions

52 in. (132.08 cm)

Object Type

textile/natural fiber

Creation Place

West Africa, Cameroon

Medium and Support

wood, hair, beads, hide, pigment and cloth

Credit Line

Museum Purchase, Lloyd O. and Marjorie Strong Coulter Fund

Copyright

This artwork may be under copyright. For further information, please consult the Museum’s Copyright Terms and Conditions.

Accession Number

2019.26.a

Interested in challenging notions of authenticity, contemporary artist Hervé Youmbi recalls witnessing a funerary dance in Cameroon where participants wore mass-produced North American masks. In response, Youmbi produced contemporary masks in collaboration with other artists. They took a well-recognized mask from the Scream film series and added a crown of horns, dreadlocked coiffures, and cowrie-studded surfaces—visual elements commonly seen in Yegue masks from Ku’ngang, a religious society among Bamiléké people in Cameroon. Youmbi includes the mask’s shipping crate with transport documentation in the display to highlight the mask’s movements. At the artist’s direction, the mask could travel back to Cameroon for future performances if warranted. With each move, the mask’s status fluctuates between contemporary art, performance, and ethnographic artifact, raising questions of the identity of this work and the role of “ethnographic” practice in contemporary art. Accompanying this label are two texts about the work prepared by the artist himself.

Object Description

Mixed / Multimedia installation including:
1. Bamiléké Yegué Scream Mask, 2015 - 2017
wood, hair, beads, hide, pigment and cloth
2. Visages de masques II.
Video. Duration: 3:45.
dimensions variable.
Ed: 1 + 1 AP
3. Shipping crate
wood, metal hardware.
dimensions variable.
4. Field photograph.
Fine Art pigment print on Epson Hot Press Cotton Rag 330 gsm Paper
38 cm x 48.3 cm / 15” x 19”
Edition: 5 +2 AP

Additional Media

Additional Image 3/4 front view
3/4 front view
Additional Image right side
right side
Additional Image front/detail
front/detail
Additional Image 3/4 view, right side detail
3/4 view, right side detail
Additional Image rear/detail
rear/detail