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Istituto It&&o pei l ' f i c a e l'oriente

2009

Scritti Vi onore di Bernardo Bernardi

a cura

di

Paola Bacchetti e Vanni Beltrami

Istituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente Roma 2009

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1 I DIRITTI RISERVATI

ISBN 978-886323-286-8

O Copynght 2009 Istituto italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente Via Ulisse Aldrovandi, 16 - 00 197 Roma Tel. 06328551 - www.mediastore.isiao.it

In copertina: PI-ogi-essione1982, china nera di LiVi Romanelli

Printed in Itaìy - Stampato in Italia Finito di stampnre nel mese di luglio 2009 Tipolitogafia- 1st Salesiano Pio Xi - Via Umbertide. 11 - 00181 Roma --~e.l. 067827819

KONSO STATUES OR WOODEN MEN AMONG US Antonio Luigi Palmsano

Eastern Africa and Ethiopia, unlike the rest of the Afncan continent, are not particularly well-known for their production of sculptures. But the waga, the wooden poles of the Konso, are one of t h e ~ k wexceptions (l). In the ethnographic perspective, substantive studies of the waga - after the first photographs taken by Hodson in 1915 (1927) -(') were originally presented by Azais (1931), Jensen (1936), Novack (1954) and Hallpike (1972) (j). Accounts and descriptions of these sculptures can be found in von Sydow (19541, Holy (1967) and Cowen (1979) (4). Waga are little known in their social, ethmc and ritual contexts but very well-known by quite a wide Western public for how they appear in museums or maybe, even more frequently, for what they represent in an art gallery. The Konso statues that are in Europe or in the United States are amorphous and tirneless. (See photo 1: Konso waga in museums and

(1)Cf. A.E. JENSEN, Elementi della cultura spirituale dei Conso dell'Etiopia Meridionale, "Rassegna di Studi Etiopicin, 1942:218-259; A.E. JENSEN, und H. WO~ENBERG, Im Lande des Gada. Stuttgart, Verlag Strecker und Schroder, 1936; 4.L. PALMISANO, Int~oductionto the Wooden Pole Sculptures of the Konso of Southwestern Ethiopia, "Ailiance Magazine", 2, 1994. (2) Cf. A.W. HODSON, Seven Years in Southern Abyssinia, London, Fisher Unwin, 1927; and SCHNEIDEI(S Toni, Aethiopien. Photos by Hans Leuenberger. Muaich: Hans Reich Verlag, 2nd ed. 1963, 19 pp., 83 pl. (3) Cf. R Aziiis, et R CHAMBARD, Cinq Années de Recherches Archéologiques en Ethiopie, 2 voU. Paris, Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner, 1931; C.R ~ L P I K EThe , Konso of Ethzopia, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1972; E. NOVACK, Land und Volk der Konso. Bonner Geographische Abhandlungen, Heft 14,1954. (4) Cf. C. COWEN,Wooden Sculpture Among the Konso and Gato of Southern Ethiopia, in Proceedings of the Fifh International Conference on Ethiopian Studies, Chicago, University of Iilinois at Chicago Cirde, 1979; L. HOLY,The Art of Africa: Masks and Figures from Eastern and . Hamlyn, 1967; Eckart VON SYDOW,Afnkanische Plastik, New York, Southern A f ~ c aLondon, Wittenbom, 1954.

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ANTONIO LUIGI PALMISANO

in art galleries) So are the waga in the eyes of Westemers who do not travel, remain at home and see them in museums and in galleries ( 5 ) . But can we nevertheless consider them Konso statues? The ethnographic context does obviously not interest the trader except for techmcal reasons, and often not even the museum curator. For the latter it is ofien even enough to keep the piece in the storage room, without facing the problem of its exhibition accorduilg to the criteria of Western ostentation, i.e. raise money in order to refund more or less private investments. The monumental complexes in situ m a d y show emaciated bodies and accentuated sexual attributes. (See photo 2: waga in perspective) But there is a larger perspective: a world arises behind the statues which is not shown in museums and galleries. (See photo 3: waga in a d a g e ) . I went to Konso to find answers to my questions: are these - in museum and art gallery - the waga? Or are these arufices of particular forms of waga? Are the waga in Konso d a g e s a form of art or something else other than art, i.e. another kind of waga? Can we speak of two Merent kinds of waga or is there only one waga in two different manifestations: one is in the museum (and in the gallery) and one in the d a g e ? Fortified d a g e s on top of hds, homesteads w i t h the fortifications, wooden houses, wooden walls, enclosures and massive wood everywhere, this is the first approach that any travder has when entering Konso territory. (See photo 4: the fence of the d a g e ) There are low and deep doors to enter the d a g e s , usually not more than three. h new world is then opening-e the visitor whch represents the context of the waga. These waga look different from those in musems. (See photo 5: waga with scenario) The context around and behind the wagga - the d a g e , the threes and the wall of statues - make them look Merent from those exhibited in the museums. The Konso waga are part of the d a g e . They, actually form an archtectural work that transcends their individua1 plastic shape. We see the village and the Konso who produced these statues. But why do they produce such figures? What is the social meaning of the waga?

(5) We find this precise picture in art bqoks, d for instance J. KERCHACHE,J.-L. PAUDRAT, L. STEPW, (eds.) L'art afiicain, Paris, Editions Mazenot, 1988:358; see particulady F. STOULLIG-~ARW,,L~ Soudan orienta[, in J. KEI(CHACHE,J.-L. PAUDRAT, L. STEPHAN,(e&.), Lart afrzcain, Paris, Editions Mazenot, 1988:589-590.

KONSO STATUES OR WOODEN biEN AMONG US

Waga in context

Lineage, clan and authority Konso society has a segrnentary h e a g e stnicture and a sophisticated, thougli not w d lmown, age-class system in which the ritual and political juxtaposition of territorial units, with the d a g e s at their core, play an irnportant role for the stnicturing and organisation of political and ritual action. Konso society is based on the clan institution or kufn. Nine clans structure the social order - Keertitta, Paasanta, ~okmaleta,Eelayta, Mahaleta, Sawdatta, Ishalayta, Arkamayta, Thssayta - and are partially shared also by other ethnic neighbouring groups as Boran, Dirasha and Tsemay. Eight of these clans are exogarnous; while the first, Keertitta, which is the largest, is presently endogamous but with an elevated number of sub-clans which have not yet been classified. Other two clans in formation are about to be added to the previousGìe clans, Oktamayra and Kutumayta, which were unti1 recently only simple sub-clans of the Keertitta. The nine clans form a kind of political-ritual structural aUlance that establishes complementary relationships, often even matrimonial (complementarity) between one clan and the other. Clans, sub-clans and maxirnal heages in favourable political and economic contexts provide the poqalla tuma religious figures with definite ritual functions, who are generdy called priests in the ethnographic literatu~e.If the contingencies allow it, the poqalla tend to represent as much as possible the unity of the descent groups and of extended local groups. The age-class system is a particularly complex way of the Hamitod o t i c area to institutionalize groups of persons. Although there is little the Konso nevertheless apply and ethnographic docurnentation about it (9, moddj it accordmg to their necessities on their territory. The majority of this age-class systern is represented by a variation of the better known

( 6 ) Bernardo Bemardi was obviously aware of this ethnographic situation, (6 B..BERNARDI, Age class systems. Sonal institutions and polities based on age, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1985) and we had the oppominity to discuss thk issue during his stay in Ethiopia I invited him during the academic year 1993-1994 to hold a seties of lectures at the Coilege of Sociai Suences, Addis Ababa University, where I was teaching Souai Anthropology in those years. One of my students intended to publish a monograph on the Konso society and I put him in touch with Bemardi. The student, who was a Konso, asked Bernardi additional critiques and suggesuons for his work. After having read the book thoroughlY,Bernardi wrote a letter in which he advised the author to give a fu11 account of the age-class system, acutely d&ed by Bemardi "the ideai constitunon" of the Konso. (Seephoto 13)

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ANTONIO LUIGI PALMISANO

Oromo gada system (7). The Merence lies in the five fundamental age grades. Fareita is connected to the circumcision rituals. Khela, artributes the right to legitimate marriage for procreation. The access of a man to gada, the pivot of the entire system allows the entrance of his first born in the age-dass system through circumcision. Orshada, is composed of men that are always more involved in justice and ritual offices. Gurra, precedes the exit from the social world. The initiation rites of the age-dass system, the passage to the gada grade in particular, as well as the altemation of the generations in the harrzya system, an age-dass system that i . complementary of the latter, are connected to a haiolithic cult. This cult takes ~ l a c ein the mora of thé village where some monoliths, diwuna, of vario;s sizes are placed around a bundle of long wooden poles, the ulabita, surrounded by a wooden fence. A group of waga stands besides. Furthermore, Konso society is divided in two moieties with distinctive and complementary ritual roles wkich cross over the territorial boundaries (8). Among the Konso, prestige and authority, i.e. identity, are attributed to individuals accordmg to the structural position they hold in society (for instance, descent, age-class and village membership), but, above all, accordmg to the rules of the meritocratic ideology, the so-called Verdienstkomplex of the German ethnographic literature, which is so widespread among societies of South-western Ethiopia ( 9 ) . The slaying of enemies in warfare and the killing of wdd and dangerous anirnals in hunting as well as the abrlity to produce and accumulate wealth through slulfdmanagement of land, cattle and commercial activities hasn't lost any of its social value among the Konso of today. These b d s of performances actually contribute more than the individual psychology, to the foundation of the individual's identity and to its stmctural position in the society. The waga memorials are then the transfiguration of the Konso social world-view with the individual at its centre, shown as successful husband, father, warrior, hunter and farmer. In all complexes of sculptures the farmly head and landholder is represented. The attribuuon of the poqalla priest office is quite frequent L,

(7) For the Oromo gada systern, d A. LEGESSE, Gada. Three Approaches to the Study of Aplcan Society, New York, The Free Press, 1973. (8) Do the specific colours of the women's turbans correspond to the moieties or to the age-dass system or do they indicate other criteria for the definition of status? n e overlapping of iniuation, suffering and social identity is always present in the elaboration of these rituals. (9) Cf. E. ~ F . R L A N D und , H. S T R A ~ ENordost-Afrika, , in H . BAUMANN,(Hrgb.), Die Volker Afrikas und ihre traditionelle Rulturen, Wiesbaden, Steiner Verlag, 1975.

KONSO STATUES OR WOODEN IMEN AMONG US

343

and indicated by the phallic symbol of the kallasha, which is placed in the middle of his forehead. The statue of the owner of the memorial complex (defined through kallasha, necklaces, bracelets and slah enernies) & taller than the onis standing next to him.The type of decorations carved in the wood of his statue such as necklaces, rings and bracelets - for instance, mukla and tapala - or the elaborated symbolism of other objects placed nearby $ve information about his wealth and social status. The nurnber of slain enernies can be estimated through the nurnber of statues placed at his sides, women or men - often emasculatsd. The ethmc group to whom these enemies belong can be easily identdied through the hairstyle carved in a standardised manner so as to allow any Konso who looks at the complex to recognise at once their ethnic origin. The wife of the family head is Sometimes placed at his side shown with long V-shaped sagging breasts and with about five strings of beads around her neck. The sexual apparatus is clearl~.sqlised. But the sculpture of this figure is only made if the wife dies before the husband. The memorial complex can be enriched by highly stylised representations of wdd animals such as leopards, bdaloes, snalces and by rough wooden replica of shields and spears that represent the trophies taken from the enemies by the owner of the memorial complex. (See photo 6: waga with animals) In this context, the waga are the visible expression of the heage and/ or local group autonomy as well as thepost mortem staternent of the lineage group authority identified with the persona of the deceased famdy head.

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Technical realzj.ation and shaping The reahsation of the complex is a long, ritually arduous and expensive process. Between the time of the death of the famdy head and the reahsation of a group of figures one year can elapse. First of all the artist has to be chosen. It is usuallYthe b s t born of the deceased. But if, for some reasons, he is unable to do it, a craftsman is put in charge of the work and helped by a team of assistants - that is by an age-set of young d a g e r s . A hut is built in which the work will be done, wood is provided. It is generdy of birbira (Podocarpus gracilior) or gatiia quality. It is then divided in the required nurnber of pieces and cut in the chosen dirnensions. The pieces of wood are then buied in the hut and moistened with water for a period of about two weeks, after which the c a h g starts. At the end of each day's work, the pieces are buried again. Each statue is carved individudY.

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The craftsman, havmitta, and his assistants are fed and given large quantities of alcoholic beverages by their patron. The dance related to the creation of the waga is performed by the harviya generation groups during the period of carving of the wagra and is also sponsored by the patron. When a figure is ready, they make the eyes with ostrich eggshell and the teeth, made of goat bones, are inserted in the mouth of the statues. Finally, they paint it with a mixture of red clay, butter and blood of a slaughtered ox or goat. Concerning the features of the waga, their extreme linearity should be emphasised. The statues show large flat surfaces. The artist gives priority to the front part of the statues. The sides are narrow and sometimes show an arm with some bracelets while the back is left altnost as a plain trunk without bark. The chiaroscuro and tri-dimensionality are of little interest to the Konso artistic ideal. In giving such a clear and precise description of the individual as status holder, they do not express gestures or any idea of movement whch usually informs us about the character of the individual, at least in the Western perspective (l0). Architectural complex: uillage and statues The Konso village is de facto a fortress usually situated on the top of a M. It is surrounded by a wall of stones, which is topped by a high wooden fence. The access is dowed through three doors that lead to a series of homesteads, grouped around territorial knots: m d y ulahita, dkruna, wagga and && moraiand ' megena. The waga ceremonial complex of pole sculptures is erected away from the actual grave, at socio-geographically central sites such as d a g e squares, mora, road crossings and along main roads of the country. The Konso fields are terraced. Several formal pathways have been created in this area. At the intersection of such pathways, harva, looking up toward the terraces, it is comrnon to see one or more memoria1 complexes gazing at the visitor. Visitors cannot see anything else when they approach a d a g e . The waga are waiting for them, facing them. They are often in an elevated position. Foreigners look at them from a lower position whde the waga are looking down on them. So, the approach is impressive. (See photo 7 : waga in upper position) I was always down on the small road c h b i n g (10) Status and prestige are associated uith and represented in absence of movement. Status and prestige do not coincide with character; it is ditEerent frorn role and its attributes.

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towards the statues in the direction of d a g e s , which are further up. The waga are a little bit hidden. Then suddenly, they appear to the guest, the foreigner, to whoever is directed toward the village. Konso landscape is popdated by waga. The n o m a l approach is meant to be from a front oblique. A foreigner should never approach the waga from the back and seldom from the centre front. The spears often rise to double the height of the human figures. The person for whom the memorial complex has been erected is immediately recognisable through the kallasha. H e stands at the centre of the complex and is taller than the others. The eye is immediately caught by this powerful figure. W i h n the d a g e , in front of the wooden statues there is another architectural composition. (See photo 8: dirruna and ulahita in the square) T h s stone monument is called dirruna. 1s it independent from what we call the waga or is it a work that is complementary to the waga? A further element of the monumental complp, is a bundle of very long poles, the ulahita. (See photo 9: the ulahita) They form a wooden structure connected to the gada age-class system, and to the harriya generation system. These three poles together with the stones, called dirmna, face the waga. Or rather, the Konso waga face h s monumental complex. These are knots w i b the territory, w i b the human territoriality. If we are in the d a g e our eyes immediately go in this direction, are inexorably attracted. The waga, and the two other sets of standing works attract the attention of d a g e r s , neighbours and foreigners. But in a Konso d a g e the eyes are also attracted by another b d d i n g that is completely different from the rest of the houses: the men's clubhouse, the megena; and the square, called mora. The club-house in the mora, the waga, the dirruna and the ulahita form one huge complex. Without any reference to the other installations, the waga can claim to have a meaning only in some Western museums or in art galleries (11). Individua1 and group self-representation through zuaga installation The old ethnographc question was: "Are the waga part of graves, or something else?" What I discovered in situ is that ordmary human beings are buried outside the d a g e . W e heroes or ancestors are buried inside the d a g e and have waga; and the poqalla are buried in a sacred wood and have waga. Ancestors are indeed buried on one side of the square, (11)We can discuss what is de-conrextualizaiion and what is art. Maybe de-~onte~utua.1izaiion is in itseif a work of art.

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ANTONIO LUIGI PALMISANO

together with the two sets of artefacts we saw, narnely the dirmna and the ulahita. A monurnental complex for a hero-ancestor buried within the village is in the square. (See photo 2: waga in perspective) But where exactly is the grave? 1s it under the statue or somewhere else? The first travellers already tried to answer that question. We are d e a h g with a very complex situation: the hero-ancestor is not really buried under the statue but within a small underground room that has a kmd of corridor leadmg outside. The waga are at the end of this tunnel and always watch in direction of the most irnportant point of the Konso social geography, the ulahita, the very high poles that can reach 25 meters. The complex, both of ordinary men, heroes or heroes-ancestors is presented as a wall (l2),formed by the row of waga. The wooden sculptures always appear at locations where the general public and the visitors of the area are most &ely to see them. This is the main criterion for the installation of the statues both in the d a g e and outside. One has the impression of facing an architectural work: the embodiment of social architecture. The waga are always facing the ulahita and the dirmna when they are inside the village, and they sometimes have heroes-ancestors buried close to them. Heroes and men can be buried outside the d a g e . The Konso themselves state that d, rnen and women, are buned in the fields where they have worked during their lifetime. Exceptional rnen - peculiar characters such as "heroes", i.e. adult men with descent that belong to shorokta f a d e s , to prominent heages -have a more complex destiny. Big men who &?e nevertheless been buried in a faraway field, distant from the d a g e ana from crossroads, have their waga situated in the d a g e . Others are buried at crossroads, dose to the xdage, or in the village in the tornbs that have a uterine shape with the waga placed in juxtaposition to dirrnna, beside the barra. More recently the poqalla are buried in the forest, always in tombs.with a uterine shape, whde the waga is placed at a certain distance, connected to the corpse with an urnbilical cord (l3). The m8nument is sometimes sheltered under a straw roof, but only when it is outside the village. But neither the shelter nor the wooden figures are then taken care of and both of them, whether inside or outside the d a g e , gradually decay under the effect of wind, terrnites and rains. (12) .4ncestors become heroes when they lose the appropnate cult perfonners within the village, namely within the local and descent group. (13) The forest is certainly not a place o£ desertion for the Konso. It is rather a territory placed under the direa juridical authority of apoqalla and his family, i.e. of his descendants, a "sacredn territory.

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AL. PAL~MSANO, K O ~ ~stazues S O or wooden men among us

Photo 1 - waga in museum and in art gdery.

A.L. PALMISANO, Konso statues or wooden men among us

Photo 2 - w a g a k perspective.

A.L. PALWSANO, Konso statries or zuooden men among us

Photo 3 - waga in a village.

Photo 5 - waga with scenario.

TAVOLA

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A.L. PALMISANO, Konxo statues or wooden men among us

Photo 4 - The f&ce of the village.

TAVOLA TV

A.L. PALMISANO, Konso stattres or wooden men anioizg trs

Photo 6 - maga with animals.

TAVOLA V

A.L. PALMISANO, Konso statues or wooden men among us

Photo 7 - waga in upper position.

TAVOLA VI

A.L.PAL~WSANO, Konso statues o? wooden men among us

Photo 8 - diwuna and ulahita in the square.

Photo 10 - waga and the elder.

A.L. P ~ M I S A NKonso O , statues or wooden men amotzg us

Photo 9 - The ulabita.'

TAVOLA Vili

A.L. PU~IISANO, Konso statues or wooden men among srs

Photo 11 - The young Konso artist.

Photo 12 - The motorbike.

TAVOLA IX

A.L. PALMISANO, Konso statues or wooden rnen arnong us

Photo 13 - Bemardi?~ letter.

TAVOLA X

A.L.P ~ ~ V U S .Konso W O , staitles or wooden m e n among ZII

Photo i j - Bernardi's lener.

TAVOLA XI

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KONSO STATUES OR WOODEN hEN PuLIONG US

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We cannot give a definite interpretation of the Konso waga as an expressive part of the rituals reiated to probable ancestor worship. We should remember that the complex is generally not taken care of, that it is situated outside from the spatial interiority of the agnatic group of descent andlor the local group and that the statues are neither situated in the homesteads nor necessarily placed in the viuage. We should take into account the role of the first born who orders the memorial complex as well as the occasional sacrifices of animals whose blood is used to smear the statues. The situation of the complex in the spatial heart of the descent group - if and when the d a g e , a d not the homestead, is considered the spatial heart of the group - could allow us to speak of ancestor; but there are no visible signs of veneration. Libations and sacrrfices that follow those made at the moment of the installation of the waga are rnissing. It seems sometimes like an ancestor cult, at least for some clans, and sometimes rather like hero worshp. But it is in any case an exhibition of the dead. The zuaga are smeared with ochre (dust, earth, mud) mixed with blood and with gluing agents (l4). Once it has come to the world, the statue lives on its own: t h s is why it is not taken care of, not even protected with a roof, except in some exceptional cases. The statue is the alter ego of the man who is now in another world. It is his double on earth, a memoraczilam. Again, the waga is the poqalla in his new human shape. The passage of state is equivalent to a passage of status. The passage from hfe to death is equivalent to the passage from alive to dead, to spirit, to ancestor - if there is ancestor cult (l5). The zuaga look like simple poles with braceiets and necklaces. (See photo 10:zuaga and the elder) But what do they represent? Do they actually represent human beings in their past social position or social status? + & ,

(14) It is interesting to note how - for the Semitic and Cushitic languages - the word which is used today in Ethiopia to indicate blood is "dam", the same root of the first name

Adam. (15) In an eucellent movie, Konso funeral ntes (M.P. Production, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 1993), Michel Papatakis shows the funerary rituals for the death of a poqalla. What is the meaning of the t u d e shape shields placed above the statue in the moment in which the body of the poqalla is carried to the funerary chamber? Does the urnbilical cord that connects the body of the poqalla wrapped in goat slan to the waga placed a few meters from the body symbolise a relationship social world/extra social world, lifddeath, mothedson? The poqalla is placed in

a bag, a goatskin wrapped in the shape of a container, as a uterus. Could the sbields be a representation of the placenta? These questions and considerations seem to be corroborated by the few comments gathered from the field. A few months after the realisation, the direaor showed the movie to the Konso of Gamole village who enjoyed it very much. But the relative self-ethnographic reflections are udortunately missing.

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ANTONIO LUIGIPALMSANO

The old man is there, and so is a relative of the man for whom several decades ago, that memorial complex was b d t . H e was a hero with appropnate descendants: probably an ancestor. He had wives, slain enernies, and had performed several and different tasks in his life. He was a successful farmer and had cattle. T h s is what we 'know when we carefdly observe the statues. The waga show in all these aspects what was the status of the owner of the monument. They show the status much more than the person. So the Konso, the waga represent the Konso men in their status and roles; and in the relationship they have with the ulahita, the age-class systern, and with the squares, the clubhouses. They represent order, the social order in Konso society. They structure space as well as social relations. They produce hierarchical order within Konso society, within the world.

Waga for the world Types of waga fou Ethiopian meuchants The production of waga is characterised on one hand by the dichotomy old and traditional Konso/ young and modern Konso, his grandchdd, and on the other hand by the presence of the rnarket. Conceming Ethiopia, the merchants of Merkato speak of two main types of pole figures, to whch they sometimes add a third, not better speclfied type, considered "non e b c arts" (l6). The first type h&-been defined "South Sidarno", i.e. "Konso". The second type is c d e d "Sidarno", and includes the pole statues of Gato, . Guji, Beresa as well as Ometo. The statues of the first type are generally between 120 and 150 cm high, and they sometimes reach 200 and 240 cm, while they do not reach more than 80 cm for the children. Accordmg to the merchants I have interviewed, the faces are " v ~ r ysimilar to the face of the dead person they represent". They are in complete contradiction with the European perceptions and cntiques since they perceive a kind of realism in Konso (16) A particular area of Addis Ababa, the capital citi of Ethiopia is c d e d "Merkato" and was created during the Italian occupation on a pre-existing area which was in f a a the market area of the capiral city and is nowadays one of the largest and widest market places of Africa. An extension of some square kilometres covered with small stores where everything is traded: ropes, pans, aluminium iterns, plastic bags, containers, coffins, Hi-£iand so on. In this piace, where thousands of people live permanendy, economic and social transactioons take place among many hundred thousands of people during the day.

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art and they also consider it, unlLke me, a realism tout court instead of a social realism. The balabbat (Amharic, "lord of the house") sometimes pays to cover them with straw roofs; ths, accordmg to the merchants, "cm only be afforded by a very wealthy man since it is very expensive". Anyway the statues of the "South Sidamo" type of important men always have two penises and this makes the town merchants smile when they think of the extraordmary sexual power attributed by definition to the Southem tribes. All the Konso and the neighbouring groups are considered to be artists. The Konso themselves sell their sf'atues to the merchants. Konso artists, traders and merchants are often the same person, accordmg to the declarations of the Addis Ababa merchants. The second type should include the so-cailed "protocol statues". The representation of the hair dresc is fundamental. More specificaily those statues are made by the Gato, the Northem neighbours of the Konso. They piace their statues on the graves in t?p.cemetery, whch is always situated in the rniddle of the viUage.

De-contextualization and the European milieu So what do the waga represent for the European? What do they have to do with the Westem world? Why are they so much appreciated and requested although considered a mere example of trivial social reahm, and not even of psychological realism? Does the waga express the character of the particular Konso man it represents -for instance, if he was generous or kmd - or does it only describe h as husband or warrior, in his social and bureaucratic status? The waga express a realism that is rather psychological than social, without ideology. What have then Europeans, or Westemers, to do with these statues, if they really represent Konso warriors or Konso husbands. Ln the Westem conception of "other" art -in the imaginary ethnography -they are very much taken into consideration and sought as examples of primitive art and abstract art actually when termites and weather make them "abstract" and "syrnbolic" in Western terms. The erosion process of nature seems to make them closer to the primitivism attributed to most non Western artistic manifestation. The Western attitude refuses to acknowledge that this action is the fruit of a specific policy of not takmg care chosen by the Konso society and is therefore a cultural and political action. Rain, termites, and especially tirne - decades or centuries - work on these statues that end up by appearing abstract with the passing of tirne. And this is maybe enough, for the deformation of realism through

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"nature", in order to find a new cultural dimension in Western terms: it attributes abstraction and prirnitivism to this Konso art. Westerners live in this translation through tirne and rain. They have thus finally something that is understandable to them, namely abstract art. The de-contextualized waga becomes a piece of comprehensible art in Western museums. It acquires a new kind of symbolism when exhibited &e Giacometti's sculptwes. The famous Swiss artist actually had a waga in his studio (l7).

Wovld and Konso notion of tbe statues Writing ori,ginaUy begins as a set of symbols and signs in a polytheistic religious context, The symbol recalls the attributes of Divinity, From the multiplicity of the attributes we slide to the fixation and autonomous elaboration of the attributes, and thus to the personification and foundation of Divinity, to the multiple Divinities. The symbol also recalls the character and the history of a particular Divinity, the history of its definition, discovery, creation. This same symbol becomes then, or can become, an attribute of the specific Divinity. The cross is still the symbol - without comrnunicating anything more, phonetically speakmg - that is attributed to Christian Divinity. We can add the symbols that recall attributes of being in the specific shape defined by human activity - recalling attributes of things (hieroglyphics) and ideas (ideograms) established by the never ending h m a n activity in separating and brealung ties - to the symbols that r e c d attributes of the Divinity (heroglyphics). These symbols t&en as a whole do not form an alphabet, but a selfrepresentation of the world that defmes and founds itself during the time of social and existential activity of man. Monotheism reduces the plwalism of Divinities and symbols. A script takes shape, it is a set of signs and not of syrnbols: the alphabet. As happens with painting, a sign transforms itself into another sign, a colour melts in another colous. Whereas plastic art is concerned, sculpture in particular, each sign has its own autonomy. It is a symbol with its ambiguity and it does not become or melt into another sign: the groups of waga share a common root, just as the fingers share the sarne palm, and form the hand (l8). (17) Cf. R KRAUSS,R. G I A C O M Ein~P~imitivism , in 20'b Century A T ~-f/2nity . ofthe Tn'bal and the Modern, New York, The Museum of Modern Art, 1984. (18) It is curious to see the waga of the Konso through the zoom of the camera, they form an indistinguishable whole -the individua1 in society -just as the Konso themselves intended t0 do.

KONSO STATUES OR WOODEN MEN m1ONG US

The monotheistic Divinity expresses itself in writing, and therefore also in painting, and not in sculpture. Only Catholicism has re-introduced a pluraltty of extra-human references for men ( 1 9 ) : saints and their statues that are simple cerarnics or plastics - decorated and dressed - rather than sculptures. There are at least two dimensions of meaning for the Konso, intraethnic and inter-ethnic. The waga production is strictly related to the ulahita, the mora and the club houses. It is therefore connected to the social structure of the Konso. Moreover the burial procedures of heroes or religious and political leaders are quitè M e r e n t from the burial procedure of comrnon people. It is very well shown in the movie of Miche1 I?apatakis. In the case of poqalla, if we sketch the burial site, we observe that it is like a womb and that there is something Iike an umbilical cord. We are again in this East African mythological connection between earth and sky, lde and death, social and extra-social world. A connection realised through the figure of specific mediators. JIus is the Konso reason for waga shaping. There is a second reason, an interethmc motivation to build such statues. The waga are like a wall, one of the walls within the land of the Konso. Villages are forufied on the top of U s ; the waga are there, impressive, not aggressive but intimidating. Visitors can notice emasculated figures among these waga. Tnis society has a segmentary lineage structure and is highly meritocratic. In this meritocratic complex the man with the skdl to M or with the slull to breed cattle, to farm, to impose himself in h s own society is highly appreciated. And t h s is expressed by this architectural social performance, which are the waga walls. It is the social wall towards the outside. It says: "don't come here! Here are our heroes, and this is what we can do: emasculate you". In the museurn it is completely different. So the question is this: "What is art for the Konso?". Waga are art for them. In this case it is also art for us, but there is a differente. Konso de-contextualization Young artists are now producing Konso statues. (See photo 11: the young Konso artist) The small statue produced by a young artist is de-contextualized in itself. It doesn't represent a social order, it is not an architectural expression of the social relationships. It is something else. (19) Cf. the almost blasphemous Moses of Micheiangdo, repesented with two thin horns r e c a h g ancient Semitic Divinities.

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What is the attitude of Konso towards the de-contextuahation of the waga?

This is part of an interview I have made - to a Konso merchant of waga and to his assistant. The Konso themselves trade their waga legitimately. A.L.P.: Are there different statues among the Konso? Merchant: Since there are different "cultures", i.e. traditions of Konso we find M e r e n t statues among thern. A.L.P.: 1s this made by students? Are there students here? Merchant: Yes there are students; but sculptures or objects are made by illiterate people. It is just art. The people copy nature; in their sculptures they make what they see in nature. A.L.P.: What do you mean by "they copy what they see"? Merchant: What they see, what irnpresses them when they move, they carve it frorn wood using an axe. A.L.P.: What carving t001 do they use? Merchant: A little which they carry, and which carpenters use. A.L.P.: That type of axe is widely used by Ethiopians.. . Merchant: Sure. A.L.P.: I noticed that in many places the people who produce artefacts or sculptures use this same axe. Do you mean that the people carve out everythmg they observe? Merchant: Definitely. They rnake a galloping horse or a horse in a traditional dance, for instance. They copy it in wood as it is with the rider. We had various exarnples of such produas; we sold them all. A.L.P.: Does anyone teach them such skills or do they acquire them by themselves? Merchant: It is just cr&tivity. They acquire them through observation. A.L.P.: I understand. They teach each other what is Konso. Merchant: Yes, they teach each other. A.L.P.: I am asking you how they acquire the S U ; for instance, how does a young man acquire the skill. Merchant: Oh, you mean the skill? A.L.P.: Yes, the s M . Merchant: $Youknow, there are some who are naturally gifted with "craftsmanshp". There are people a h o have artistic talent. And when such people do the work others learn through observation. One leams frorn the other. One who is able to make waga can also make other objeas. A.L.P.: One who can produce waga? Merchant: Sure. A.L.P.: But can anyone make waga? Merchant: No, no, not anyone. Never! There are some persons among the Konso who are gifted to maice it. A.L.P.: What I mean by "anyone" is: can any person who is able to produce other artefacts, dso make waga? Merchant: Sure, he cm.

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A.L.P.: I understand. He can make them. Merchant: He can. A.L.P.: Are there not specific individuals who occupationally produce waga? Merchant: No. A.L.P.: This is because the other objects can be produced for market, they sell them. Merchant: Yes. A.L.P.: But &ey never s d this one. Merchant: This is not marketed in their culture (20). A.L.P.: That means you can't find it if you want to buy it. Merchant: This is put on tombs (21). A.L.P.: But the snake sculpture you showed me earlier can be sold openly. 1s that right? Merchant: Yes. A.L.P.: Do they bring them themselves and sell their produas to you? XiIerchant: You go to their house where they put the objeas, and you ask them to sell the items to you. Sometimes the sculptors put their product outside their house for sale. A.L.P.: Are there people who produce and sell waga? Merchant: No it is not sold, it is produced for the graves only. A.L.P.: Do you produce other artefacts or sculptures? Merchant: Sure. It is my job. I produce sculptures, however mine are different from the waga. A.L.P.: Have you ever tried to do in that way? Merchant: I do imitate. A.L.P.: Do you imitate the waga? Merchant: Sure. A.L.P.: Oh, do you sell it? Merchant: Yes there are people, the faranji, who buy it because they don't find the original Konso works although &ey come here. They never find any. For sure &ey don't find the original. A.L.P.: How about the Gato work, is it available? Merchant: You never find such pieces in general.

I then asked a last question about the Gelab, the neighbouts of the Konso, who have interesting pdows (berkota),in order to clardy the consciousness of artistic production. A.L.P.: Do the Konso also make that kind of pdows? Merchant: Yes if you want they make it. They copy it perfectly, they copy the Gelab type.

(20) In some passages he is taking distance from the Konso as if he were not a Konso, intending thus to $ve objectivity and credibility to bis af£irmations, (21) This af£irmationmake the Konso statues more desirable, rare a d obviously expensive in the merchants' perspective.

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It goes on iike that, showing dearly that there is a wide artistic production arnong the Konso and that it is also market-oriented. Young artists and t~adevs Government officers officidy discourage the trade. High officers clairn that they have not reallY developed institutions able to preserve national "monuments", and they consider direct copying as a dAgerous activity: "We can lose everything, evey old item!" They discourage the presence of such items on the market place: "The proper way would be to train the young artists to produce works that are not directly copied". The officers wish to keep the so-called continuity, "maybe showing the present time, the 21" century, using equipment, also". To show the continuity is considered a value, but at this time the officers do not think to have SUEciently developed institutions everywhere in Ethiopia: "Ethiopia is a wide country and we haven't registered what we have in those places. We haven't done an inventory of "cultural heritage". There are lots of problems but we discourage &e trade. We try to be reasonable of course, but sometimes there are some biases as well. People who work at clearing out these iterns can also rnake decisions. So if someone takes these itemC and goes to the museurn for the clearance, the -people who work there can forbid the export. But the law says that items related to Ethiopian culture, the so-cded "monument", cannot be taken outside unless you get permission from the Minister. Those who check in the museum try to respect these re,dations. Their main problem is that we don't have institutions everywhere in Ethi6g-a to look after these "monuments" and to develop the new handicraft in the right way". There are nevertheless also 'young generations in Konso. In some cases of course it is easy to distinguish one waga from the other, the original from the copy. Sometimes there are such big statues that are even carved in a M e r e n t lund of wood, but in other cases it is extrernely difficult toTdistinguishthe original from the copy. Moreover, there are two different types of waga, the waga in the d a g e and the waga outside the d a g e : their meaning is ddferent. But Kolbe, the above-mentioned young artist, is a perfect exarnple of the modem relationship with tradition: he is using h s heritage in order to assure it and to exploit it for future development. Tradition becomes a resource and this young man has mherited an idea1 form of expression that is this particular work of wood. I appreciate t h s development: through the changing times this is how men see and feel their own identity through their own expression.

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But in ths specific work of wood there is more than tracing continuity. Kolbe is also using it in h s Me for his future. Between hun and the old man there is continuity. The problem of the waga and of the Konso artist is that there is continuity, and unity among the two, but tehy, nevertheless belong to two ciifferent worlds. Vaga and cultura1heritage The young artist represents an irnportant question in itself, he is waiting for an answer: "1s an artist allowed to seìl what he produces? 1s it his money?" The young man is really producing very much. He is carving and s e l h g h s produas close to the door of h s house. So that is the question: "What should we do with the cultural heritage of Ethiopia?" Other questions arise imrnediately as a corollary. They should apparently help us to answer the h s t , the politicaily fundamental question: "Are we able to establish a beginning: wbgn did the Konso start to sell statues? 1s it possible to make a distinction between the statues produced for sale and the ones made for ritual purpose? When we see a waga in a shop in Addis Ababa is it possible to distinguish whether it has been taken from a monurnental complex or i€it has been produced for the market?". But other strictly ethnographic questions anse, what has been said above depends on their answers: "1s it forbidden for the Konso to remove those sculptures and sell them? What about those who touch the statues forming a wall?" And again: "it seems that to Konso region waga stiU represent nowadays a strong identity for some, but only a convenience for others: how is it?" . The interpretation of the social and economic action of a group, a village or a society in a correct way is difhcult. There are ethnic groups both in Addis and in the country that are trading art, there are others that produce it, and others again that produced it in the past and sell it today. The waga are not only obtained dlegally. It is rather useful to note that an assumed illegal removal of the waga feeds the usual clandestine market of corruption and produces thus dlegality and wealth, but not of a taxable kind: wealth that does not end solely in the hands of the Konso. When I was in Konso I was taught by the Konso that they took no care of the waga: nobody protects the statues. The statues remain there in the field or in the square and are part of the world. There is no roof on them; time and nature are eroding them. Members of the farnily are neither &g to take care of this memorial complex, nor allowed to do so. It can happen that afier 50, 60, 100 or more years &ere are no more

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descendants from the famdy of the former owner of the waga in the field.

In this case, the waga without owner's descendants who could clairn that the waga belong to them, are Gnally sold, usually by the owners of the neighbouring plot of land to town merchants or by the new landowners. At the sarne tirne Konso produce other waga, both for the monumental complex and for other reasons. They produce them with the same wood birbiva or with old wood available in the d a g e . They also produce them in Addis Ababa, very dose to the shops in which they are sold. This represents a problem for the tourists: I doubt that many originals are sold in Addis. I know that the original waga are very few and that the waga that may be found now, even in museums, or anywhere else around them, are made by contemporary artists. Not by the young artists, of course, but by other adult artists, and not always by Konso. These artists more often belong to other groups. 1s it important to know whether it is a copy or in original for the market and especially for ethnographc researches? I would be glad i£ Kolbe, and all the other Konso young artists managed to sell their statues. And I d agree to consider their statues as well as those produced by their older brothers as originals. What is art and what is an artist in Ethiopia? We can try to classdj the contemporary art production in Ethiopia into three main categories. There is art for churches. Art has been produced during the past centuries for the Orthodox Church, by deacons and artists of the churches and it doesn't h a v e e y other task or goal but the sanaification of the human work, of descent and transcendence. Then there is art for donors, narnely we have donors or patrons or purchasers, generally h g h court-dignitaries in the past and rich businessmen today, who can finance the artist to produce what is considered a piece of art or proper paraphemalia. The onginal waga were and still are produced &e that today. Findy, in the case of thèyoung Konso artist, it is art for the market, namely market oriented art. The young artist doesn't need any donor. H e is an entrepreneur: he produces and distributes art on his own. Of course it is not easy to distinguish between the one and the other. The last type of art is a case of de-contextualizauon of the former types, but it is a new and promising activity. The other products can be de-contextuahed and in this case they acheve a new status and they acquire a pnce in museums and art galleries. Are the waga wooden sculptures or human beings? For the young artist waga are wooden sculptures; for the old man, the waga are human

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beings. But once these wnga are outside the d a g e they are only wooden statues. And so, let Konso decide for themselves whether they want to sell it or not. They discussed, and for a long time, if one of the waga could be taken away from the isolated field or not. They know this issue very well. Ifwe concider the young mani Me-story, he also needs the old waga to be sold in order to sell his own copies. What can we do, or what do we have to do? What do al those involved in this cultural situation in museurns and in galleries have to do? Everybody d find his own solution! '.

Vaga in museums and in a r t galleries

Wagn and the mzlseum: a conclurion The work of a society, (whether work of art*%?religious artefact) e.g. the waga of Konso, is such as long as it is in situ. It becomes an object when it is kept in a package, a box, and it may develop later on into a work of art again or into an ethnographic work. The problem is then how to restore it to art or to ethnographic artefact, once it is taken out of the box, when it has arrived in the West. This object has to return into being a work - work of art or artefact to avoid the process of Verdinglichung, Versachlichung, Vergegenstandlichung, whch it has undergone. We know that there are assistants who thrnk they are helping the directors to make museums beautiful and pleasant, architects of interiors and decorators. But the problems of museums and of works of art and/or ethnographc artefacts are elsewhere. We speak of contextuahzation,namely re-contextualizationof objects. The term "contextual" reminds us of the notion of translation, "ist eine gute Ubersetzung ein Ersatz?" or of the famous dichotomy and identity "traduttore/traditoreX.By conte;utu&ation we mean to place that work in the politicai, sociai, religious and economic context in which it has been produced and used. Re-contextuahzation is rather - at least in o u postmodern and poor society - to place the works of art and/or the ethnographc artefacts in the context of its consumption, namely in the society in which it is today, in the new context, after it has been taken out of the box. Many questions anse now: "What is an East African pole sculpme for a taxi driver in Rome or New York or for a musician in Karlsruhe? What is the meaning of this work if it is not re-contextualized into the

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society in which it lives?" The ethnographic contextualization into the society in which it was indeed created, is not enough. There is a curious example of Konso sculpture representing a "Suzuki motorbike" that shows us in which measure Konso society and other societies are in touch with one another: an artistic and interpretative connection (22). (See photo 12: the motorbike) Art involves interpretation, interpretation of a peculiar relations: the relations between man and the construction and deconstruction of the social world. The work that has been taken out of the expedition box cannot continue to exist as object, as a Fenste~uppe.Thanks to the interpretation we give to it as museum curators, artists or ethnologists, it is re-contexualized in the d e u of the modern museum and becomes a new work of art. The contextualization, when reduced to a techmcal representation of the original context, is not immediate and does not communicate anyt h g to the visitor: it does not take place with an accessible language (23). But "accessible language" has nothmg to do with the idea of the vulgarisation of culture. It has rather to do with the idea of translation, of appropriate translation: if I had left the Bible in ancient Hebrew I would not have had the Church. A large part of Western society would be missing as w d as several d o n s of Christians scattered in other countries. The question is how to display this work. The exhibition and deobjectification of a waga, for instance, rather needs an art-director than a director, a film-maker; an ethnologist or an artist rather than a museum curator. The exhibition, narnely the re-contextuahation is a mise en s~ène(~"). The museum curator obviously needs to have a background in art history, but also in the arts. An artistic as well as an ethnographic background would be helpful since the context is that of modern art (but not of conceptual art, pop art or abstractionism). We might even remember the artistic experiences of the 20's: futurism, expressionism, cubism, with the composition, de-composition and ~ 4 ~ '

(22) The "motorbike" has been carved out of a single piece of wood. The wheels are free and rotate easiiy, the handle bar is rigid. Both the carrying rack and the gas tank's cap are made of plastic. Five n& fix the trestle, the break-dutch and the handle bar. The dimensions are 42un'82cm. The artist of Arba Minch has told me that he wanted to represent the beautiful motorbike of a Japanese traveller - a Suzuki, according to him - that he saw in action the year before on the difficult tracks of the region. (23) "It cornmunicates itseyas it is as experienced through the visitar's filter of persona1 experience and aesthetic appredationn,according to Prof. Dr. Ron Rerninick's kind comrnents. (24) I am a supporter of ethnographic contextualisation, but of a post-modem kind, highly symbolic and corroborated by advanced technologies in the case of arts, namely of recontextualisation.

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re-composition of the objects, in order to provide them with new voices w i t h changed contexts and to make them become works of art. These maestri introduced us to African works, i.e. primitive art, at the be,oinning of the century. In thrs way, through the mediation of artists the works were taken out of the boxes, out of the Wz~nderkammern(25).The experience of de-objectification and contextualization and re-contextualization of "primitive works" in a new symbolic universe, an experience of interpretation and mediation of emotions, started with them and was interrupted by World War II P ) . Art hstory t d s us that this interpretative experience has already said all it had to Say to art hstory. Perhaps it suli has s o m e t b g to say to the hstory of museurns and to the art of contextuahzation in modern perspective. Would it be possible to retrace that interpretation for the modern mise en scène of such works? ( T h s time in museums and not in art galleries?). A Konso statue in situ wants to shock and "terrorise" the traveller, above all potential intruders in the d a g e . But it*&--also meant to impress as representation of a man in another condition, with a ddferent status: the image of the man who is beyond, icon of diversity, an emblem of das Fremde, dwelhg now in a universe that is stiU foreign to us. A Konso statue here in the West can express itself with appropriate lights, appropriate colours, maybe with a minimahst mise en scène, changed from time to time in order to create new shows, It is a hard task to recreate the wall of Konso statues in situ, without being pedantic. But with research publications we are sull in tirne for the fu11 anthropological and phdological contextuahzation of the waga in their owii society and re-contextualization in our society. Let us try to restore emotions through modem re-contextualzation. In thrs way the waga W-LU never cease to surprise and move us, the actual reason for which they have been carved, as wooden men among us.

(25) For Pablo Picasso, for instance, 6. W. RUBIN,Pzcasso, in Primitivzsm in 20thCentary A T ~A$niiy . of the Tribaland che Modern, New York, The kluseum of Modern Art, 1984. (26) It is actually in the shaping of emotions that we can recover the ethnographic ambition. The context to offer is the context of emotions, of the emotions thar these works intend to offer in the penpective of sociai actors.

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Dictionary waga, wooden statue in birbi~awood (Podocarpus gradior); - ulahita, poles of juniper, very tall; - dimna, statue, stone monolith; - harmitta, craftsmen who carve the waga; - tapinatta, the urnbilicai cord that links waga with the rest of the social world; - mora, sacred place, square; - damelle, place situated inside the mora, reserved for activi8es of confiict resolution; - megena, "rnen's house"; - pafta, house of rich people; - mana, house of poor people; - baleta, village; - kewatta, a fence; -barra, intersection of pathways or gateways; - kafa, age-dass systern; the rnain age grades are five: fareita (connected to the circumcision rituals), khela (atuibutes the right to legitimate marnage for procreation), gada (pivot of the entire system: the access of a man to this grade allows the entrance of his first bom in &e age-dass systern through circurncision), orshada (cornposed of men that are al~vays more involved in justice and ritual ofices), gurra (precedes the exit from the social world); - harriya, alternating of generations; shorokta, prominent lineage; - poqalla tuma, ritual expert; tends to represent as much as possible the unity of the descent and of wide locai groups; - tuma, rimals in which coffee beans are thrown about to invoke the name of the mother's mother (kf. challe and atete); - yagata, necklaces wom by women or by men in occasion of cerernonies; they adom the waga of the heroes; - chiriwana, necklaces wom by m e . only in occasion of ceremonies and returned to the women after ceremonies; - mtrkla, five iron rings; - tapala, bracelet made fio? b%&. -

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