Producer unknown to us
Sculpture of a palm wine harvester
Africa, Nigeria
1981/82
Wood, painted brown and white
Presented to Hans-Joachim Böhme (GDR Minister for Higher Education) by Leipzig University alumni from
Nigeria
Handed over to the Museum für Völkerkunde Dresden by the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party in 1982
62879
This wooden sculpture of 1.33m height is a contemporary work of a Nigerian sculptor whose name, unfortunately, was not documented. Only in a few cases of modern Nigerian art, the artists became known beyond their home communities because of the traditional focus on family structures and collectives. As European and “Western” concepts of art gained influence in Nigeria, this focus gradually began to change toward more individualized credits. Modern arts and crafts in late 20th-century Nigeria often addressed everyday tasks. This palm wine harvester is recognizable by his equipment, e.g., a rope, an axe, and a large calabash spilling fermenting palm wine juice. The sculpture’s style suggests a Yoruba artist.
In 1981, GDR leadership received numerous state gifts on the occasion of the 10th conference of the Socialist Unity Party, sent by partners of friendly and allied countries. In this context, college alumni from Nigeria who had attended GDR universities in the 1950s sent this sculpture to Prof. Hans-Joachim Böhme, Minister for Higher Education, as a gift. The GDR government handed it over to the Dresden museum in November 1982.
Silvia Dolz