African Art in Transit - Softcover

Steiner, Christopher B.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521457521 ISBN 13: 9780521457521

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1994

Synopsis

An analysis of the African art trade, looking at how the value and meaning of art is transformed as objects move from one culture to another.

About this title

Review

"...an important contribution to African studies as a whole, and anthropology of African art and economics in particular. It is a detailed and lucid ethnological account of the way in which middlemen construct value in the art markets in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. A vital study for anyone interested in contemporary African Art, it is, for the field to date, the most theoretically informed study of authenticity as a construct, and as it is used in the market to create value. For African art, it is a landmark study..." International Journal of African Historical Studies

"...a welcome contribution to the anthropology of art and transnational markets." Times Higher Education Supplement

"African Art in Transit is one of the most important works published in African studies in recent years; it is a work to be celebrated." Journal of African History

"[Steiner] can conjure the social milieu and dynamism of the African market as effortlessly as he can negotiate, with a souffleé lightness yet unerring insight, among the heavyweights of social theory." Antiquity

"A long needed, landmark volume which draws attention to an area of research generally neglected in both the art and sociological literature....I shall eagerly assign it in courses I teach." Anthropos

"The work is written in a clear, creative style, with eloquent descriptive phrases, making this important theoretical as well as factual and analytic study a reading delight. The bibliography and index are very complete; the references are meticulous in providing solid field documentation and other sources; and a 30-page section of notes contributes a wealth of additional, related information....This study fills a critical gap in the fields of anthropology and art history; it also contributes valuable cross-cultural materials to political economy and sociology." Choice

"Steiner has written an important and comprehensive description of trade in West African art objects...Steiner's book is very valuable to both anthropologists and art historians. He is an excellent fieldworker besides being thoroughly versed in the 'literature'." J. R. Rayfield, Canadian Journal of African Studies

"...specialized but illuminating work." Publishers Weekly

"'African Art in Transit' is an important contribution to African studies as a whole, and the anthropology of African art and economics in particular. A detailed and lucid ethnographic account of the way in which middlemen construct value in the art markets in Abijan, Cote d'Ivoire, it is, for the field to date, the most theoretically informed study of authenticity as a construct, and as it is used in the market to create value. For African art, it is a landmark study for the ways in which it brings social and economic theory to bear on the creation of surplus value through bargaining processes, that is, through the competitive 'meditation of knowledge' in the art market." Jonathan Zilberg, The International Journal of African Historical Studies

From the Author

Abstract and Reviews
A B S T R A C T

This is the first book devoted to the international art trade between Africa and the West. Based on extensive field research among art traders in Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa, the author unveils a critical new perspective on how symbolic codes and economic values are constituted and mediated in transcultural trade.

R E V I E W S

Choice: "Expanding on Sally Price's challenging study, PRIMITIVE ART IN CIVILIZED PLACES (1989), Steiner raises further disquieting questions in his important research on the ‘commodification or commercial aspects' of African art trading activities in the international art market....The work is written in a clear, creative style, with eloquent descriptive phrases, making this important theoretical as well as factual and analytic study a reading delight."

Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute: "Having failed to find anything to complain about in Steiner's marvelously lucid book on the African art trade...I may proceed to outline why I found this one of the most interesting, enjoyable and illuminating athropological monographs I have read for some time."

Journal of African History: "Despite its modest length and tone, AFRICAN ART IN TRANSIT is one of the most important works published in African studies in recent years; it is a work to be celebrated....The importance of AFRICAN ART IN TRANSIT is that it defies academic classification. It is not a work of African historiography, though Steiner includes much historical material in his text. It is not an analysis of African artistic forms, though Steiner draws upon the literature of art history. It is not a work of economic analysis, though Steiner utilizes some Marxist concepts to reinforce his argument. It is also not a book of tried and true anthropological analysis, though Steiner's work is much influenced by current trends in social anthropology. Steiner's book is a wonderful work of historically informed ethnography that describes simply and elegantly the complex trans-national contours of contemporary Africa."

Antiquity: "The breadth and subtlety of the issues [in this book] is equally matched by the lucidity and succinctness of Steiner's prose. He can conjure the social milieu and dynamism of the African market as effortlessly as he can negotiate, with a soufflé lightness yet unerring insight, among the heavyweights of social theory. All this is packed into 164 pages of main text. Clifford Geertz once asked how one could hope to ‘reduce the surface tumult of the bazaar to the deep calm of social theory'. With the proviso that this book represents no collapsing of complex reality into abstract theory, but rather a marriage of the two, one can but conclude that Steiner has written a brilliant, absorbing, and often humorous answer."

International Journal of African Historical Studies: "AFRICAN ART IN TRANSIT is an important contribution to African studies as a whole, and the anthropology of African art and economics in particular. It is a detailed and lucid ethnographic account of the way in which middlemen construct value in the art market of Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. A vital study for anyone interested in contemporary African art, it is, for the field to date, the most theoretically informed study of authenticity as a construct, and as it is used in the market to create value. For African art, it is a landmark study for the ways in which it brings social and economic theory to bear on the creation of surplus value through bargaining processes, that is, through the competitive 'mediation of knowledge' in the art market."

Boekmancahier: "Steiner's revelatory and demystifactory project challenges ideas that deny the complex interplay of interests among the agents, and reveals 'the commoditization and circulation of an object in the international economy'."

Anthropos: "[A] long needed, landmark volume which draws attention to an area of research generally neglected in both the art and sociological literature....Steiner's volume represents a useful contribution to demystifying some of the previous writings of African art, and the sociological study of art in general."

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521457521
• ISBN 13: 9780521457521
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240