This is utterly fascinating. From The Province: The Masked Man.
For several centuries, the Chewa men of Malawi have reaffirmed their brotherhood through a secret masked society.
But Doug Curran is neither Chewa nor anything remotely approaching African.
He is a twice-divorced white man from North Vancouver. He grew up a military brat, photographs publicity film stills for a living (working with the likes of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner), and drives an Audi.
So how is it that this middle-aged British Columbian ended up a member of a closely guarded African fraternity?
That he’s not only privy to a world where men become wild beasts and speak in riddles, but is also a guardian of its secrets?
Curran ferrets around in the recesses of his mind for an answer. [continue]
Preview-art.com has a page you might like to see: Douglas Curran: The Elephant Has Four Hearts Nyau Masks and Ritual. That page has a few photos.
Just a note to say that the Douglas Curran exhibition at PH was two years ago. This caught my eye only because I’d seen and blogged about that show. It was great!
Thanks for pointing that out, Marja-Leena. Sharp eyes you’ve got! I’ve edited the blog entry so as not to lead anybody astray.
Marla is incorrect about the newspaper article. In fact the recent Province story relates to “The Village is tilting: Dancing AIDS in Malawi”, on display at the UBC Museum of Anthropology until Seot 2007.
The Village is Tilting is a completely different installation of images, video and masks related to how the Chewa create community dialogue around the pandemic through the mechanism of the Gule Wamkulu.
The exhibition is a far off cousin of the Presentation House exhibition of 2005. That exhibit will be at the Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam (June through September 2007).
Doug
Marla, the exhibit referred to in this blog is “The Village is Tilting:Dancing AIDS in Malawi”
The exhibition is a far off cousin of the Presentation House exhibition of 2005. That exhibit will be at the Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam (June through September 2007).
For details of the current exhibition please go to the UBC Museum of Anthropology website, or google “the village is tilting”.
Doug
Hi Doug! Marja-Leena wasn’t talking about the newspaper article, but rather an additional link I had provided at the end of this blog entry. Once she pointed out my error (thinking the old exhibition was a current one) I modified the entry so that everything would be up to date.
Nice of you to stop by. I hope to make it to the exhibition at UBC – sounds fascinating.