Made by Mbuti women for dances, festivities and coming-of-age ceremonies, the asymmetric, spontaneous and animated patterns of bark cloth paintings reflect and respond to their rainforest surroundings - giving shape to Mbuti perceptions of place.
The design of this Mbuti bark painting keeps the eye constantly in motion, following the dynamic, expressionistic and freelance composition interspersed with arrangements of abstract linial designs, all of which seem to closely relate the forest.
This bark cloth was field collected by two doctors in the 1950's in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and subsequently been in a private German collection till recent times.
Estimated Period: Pre-1950's
47 cm x 63 cm (As on custom mount)
(Click on images to enlarge)
