Material journeys

by Christraud M. Geary

"This is a comprehensive study of how African and Oceanic arts were brought to Europe and the United States in the later twentieth century. Using the extensive Genevieve McMillan Collection as a prism, the authors investigate collecting strategies as they intersect with the political conditions of colonialism and independence and the developing study of African and Oceanic arts. The objects in this book, ranging from sculptures to textiles to musical instruments, moved through many hands: some were collected in the field by their future owners, others passed through Paris and Brussels, hubs of the international art trade, and still others arrived with "runners," Africans who helped locate objects for sale. As the market expanded, an increasing number of object types joined the canon of what constituted art, and artists in Africa and the Pacific begin producing replicas and new types - opening a whole new debate about the objects' authenticity. Material Journeys explores this debate and