Black Venus, Fang artist  now Gabon (Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Kota reliquary figure, made of wood, copper and brass. (Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art)

19th-century figures from the Ngumba or Okak group, of southern Cameroon or Equatorial Guinea. (Photo: Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology)

A figure from Gabon from the 19th century. (Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art)

A reliquary ensemble from the Kota people of Gabon. (Photo: Musee du Quai Branly)

A Kwele mask from Gabon. (Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art)

A royal commemorative portrait of a Tanyi priest flanked by twins. (Photo: Staatliche Museen, Berlin)

A Kota sculptural element from a reliquary ensemble from Gabon or the Republic of Congo.  (Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art)

An ancestral sculpture of a standing female from Equatorial Guinea. (Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art)

A reliquary bust of Saint Yrieix. (Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art)

“Eternal Ancestors: The Art of the Central African Reliquary” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art offers many magnetic images in a gorgeous, morally and spiritually vibrant show that is sure be one of the sleepers of the fall art season.
Sleepers, awake. Change your habits, alter your route, see what you’re missing. This African show isn’t esoteric at all. Anyone familiar with Western religious art, particularly art before the modern era, will recognize its basic theme: life as a cosmic journey homeward, with parental spirits, embodied in materials and images, coddling, counseling and chiding us every step of the way. Holland Cotter  Lire la suite http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/05/arts/design/05afri.html?_r=1&ex=1349409600&en=3412f655ff22ab0d&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin