by Alexis Maxime Feyou de Happy

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2008 AMF DE H

PURPLE GRAIL

CLASSIC AFRICAN ART AS VICTUS LIBRI

(LIVING ARCHIVE)
BY ALEXIS MAXIME FEYOU DE HAPPY
VOL. I
FANG STATUARY AND THE FORGOTTEN MASTERS

My first encounter with Fangs took place around 1966-67, when my

mother and I visited a Fang village in Southern Cameroon1. I was
immediately impressed by their vibrancy, their joie de vivre, and most of all
their frank expression of reality. As a young man I was charmed by the grace
of Fang maidens. But it was at Seminary Santa Theresa, Yaoundé
(Cameroon) in 1975-78, that I truly had the opportunity to learn Fang
culture. I was also privileged to know Fang students, who were my
classmates in Yaoundé. At the Seminary, students were encouraged to
explore their environment and to question the things they did not understand:

1
The author’s father, Prince Joseph Feyou de Happy of Bana, was then the Prefect of
Sanaga Maritime, southern district in Cameroon. He had total authority over Cameroon
Fang country and other local communities, notably the last pygmy societies of Cameroon.
It was a unique opportunity to immerse oneself in revealing aspects of a society in
transition. It was also an opportunity to develop a genuine respect for other cultures.
we exchanged our experiences and debated ancestral values amongst
cultures.
My spiritual counselor2, Abbot Leon Messi (born Fang/Beti), was
perhaps my most influential teacher. A writer and respected scholar he
understood my thirst to learn3 and even made it his concern to teach me
about all the plants in Fang’s countries.
Abbot Messi studied in Rome in the early sixties and when he
returned to Cameroon he devoted his time to the understanding of local
culture. He was a professor of theology at Santa Theresa Seminary and was
fluent in Latin and Greek, as were many of my classmates. His passion for
Fang culture led him to write a book on Beti’s thought and our conversations
on the subject were quite enlightening. The knowledge that I acquired then
proved very helpful in understanding Fang sculpture. As I compared
available data obtained from Western studies with those in Africa, a new
appreciation on the different aspects of culture arose.
Many factors have made it possible for me to transcend the mental
barriers of slavery and colonialism in my analysis of Fang statuary and
African art in general, including my dual-heritage (Euro-African or vice
versa) and having studied in three continents (Africa, Europe and America),
as well as having lived the African tradition to its core. In addition, I am
fortunate enough to have a scholarly fatheri who made available to me at an
early age the greatest Europeans writers and philosophers, and ensured that
my siblings and I were taught by scholars and academics at home after
school (for decades). I have been introduced to and conversant with the
highest members of Bamileke secret societies, been privileged in France to
exchange sound conversations with such eminent personalities as Bishop
Lustiger and Abbot Pierre, who refined my understanding of
Christianity—all this and more has given me a grateful artistic eye, liberated
from all prejudices.

CHAP. I

ART OF THE SACRED

2
It was the seminary policy for student to be individually chaperoned by a spiritual
counselor who served as their godfather in all matters of spiritually and intellectual
upbringing
3
In 1976 Abbot Leon Messi gave the author St Thomas of Aquino Sum in French and
began a discourse on general philosophy and its place in religion.
 “There is always something new out of Africa!”4 wrote the notable
Roman scholar, Gaius Plinius Secondus. Over a thousand years later, great
masters of the cubist movement reintroduced African art to the world, not
only affirming this platitude, but revealing new artistic forms born from the
remnants of ancient schools of art of the African continent—delighting us
once again with the beauty of pre-modern, modern, and post-modern art.
What cubism borrowed from African art can be resumed in two words:
deconstruction and reinterpretation. Of the former, Picasso comes to mind,
of the latter Modigliani. Picasso used lines, chiseling and color juxtaposition
to express an idea. Guernica5, his masterpiece on the Spanish wars fully
demonstrated how a non-naturalistic medium can be used to carry a
powerful message. We can understand here how the structural abstraction
that is African art finds its reflection in cubism. We understand also the
genius of modern artists who transcended the cloak of primitivism of which
African art was veiled. Modigliani gathered from classic African art the
expressive holiness of forms. The divine as understood by African master is
a reality that exists in itself of which man can seized the substance only by
contemplation. This is achieved through initiation, meditation and specific
rites. All embedded in the subtle power of three-dimensional creations of
which specific forms generate a sense of awe. Modigliani’s paintings with
their somewhat elongated forms and narrow eyes, perhaps inspired by
Senufo mask from present day Ivory Coast, though not religious pieces
themselves succeed to evocate the same type of serenity (divine) found in
African art. As we better appreciate this aspect of modern art we also learn
to look at African art with a different eye, one oddly enough, though new,
really closer to what masters of the classic period intended.
The “Fang Byeri” style of African statuary, or fangism, is the
nineteenth century quintessence of an artistic form that originally blossomed
in Africa around the fourteenth century. No one knows the first carver who
created the canonic style of African art, but we do know that the style is

4
Ex Africa semper aliquid novi (“there is always something new out of Africa”):
expression of ancient Rome’s most notable scholar, known as Pliny The Elder, Gaius (or
Caius) Plinius Secondus (c. AD23-AD 79). He was not only a scholar of great authority
quoted for centuries, he was also a noted naval and military commander as well as a
philosopher. He is most known for his 20 volumes on Germans Wars and his Naturalis
Historia.
5
On April 26, 1937 during the Spanish civil war twenty eight German bomber descended
on Guernica. The attack killed over 1,600 people.
devoted to the sacred: the celebration of African saints and ancestors of
African liturgy is the heart of African statuary.
This form of sculpture is so exceptional that all those who have taken
the time to study it have been fascinated—if not forever hooked. However,
in order to fully understand the power of Fang artistic form and to
decipher—or perhaps decode—its meaning, we must first turn our attention
to the people whose heritage bestowed upon us the illuminating
masterpieces of nineteenth century Cameroon/ Gabon fang figures.

FANG HISTORY

Fang are the people living in the countries of Gabon and Southern
Cameroon. Studies on the origin of Fang often trace the culture from the
nineteenth century, suggesting that the Fang suddenly appeared, seemingly
“out of nowhere” during this era. But between Cameroon and Congo there is
a linguistic link that leads us to the Fang’s earlier origins. A famous scholar
branded the term “Bantu”ii from this link, because it linguistically connected
many cultures in Africa from the Nile to the Cap. The full implication of its
meaning speaks to migrations that crisscrossed the entire African continent.
It is from these migrations that the Fang found their way southward to their
present location in Cameroon and Gabon.
The creators of the famous Fang Byeri sculptures came from a
tumultuous existence. Within just a few centuries, their continental journey
brought them from Southern Cameroon to present day Gabon. That
however, was merely the latter stage in an obscure history that has yet to be
fully unraveled.
As with many African societies, the Fang can be traced back to the
Nile or North Africa. It is all a matter of time. Should you look at a two-
hundred year time frame, you have the Fang in Cameroon. Tracing their
migration back five hundred years, the Fang are found in Lake Chad area.
Go back further and they are in Fran by the oasis. Another five hundred
years earlier and they may even be found in Europe6, according to an early
French scholar.
6
Though the possible European origin of Fang has been rejected by Xavier it is not as
farfetch as it may appear. There were indeed contacts between Europe and Africa.
Around 875 AD, the emperor of the Franks sent an embassy to Kairouan. His goal was to
obtain an alliance. The same emperor during this period also sent an embassy to
Baghdad. It is therefore possible that as Trilles asserts there was a migration from North
Africa (Tunisia) to the South. We know that Bamileke, Fang and other left Chad around
 These are not always the same people of the same culture or race,
however, because as with any population, over time new social and cultural
elements enter. Since African civilizations seldom discriminate, a new
member of society became a full member, regardless of race. There is a
scholarly tendency to reject such ancestral richness and diversity because we
want to isolate a people historically in one scope of time. However, African
statuary and art, post-migration and pre-colonial, stands as evidence of the
Fang’s willingness to embrace all peoples.
At the source of these migrations was the Greek occupation of ancient
Egypt. Romans followed the Greeks into Egypt, and later followed the
Muslims. Around 500 BC a southward migration began in waves. Although
the Greeks remained largely within ancient Egypt’s boundaries, the Roman
invasion beginning around 50 BC extended to the heart of the continent.
Roman centurions chased Garamantes rebelsiii all the way to Lake Chad.
Recent archeological findings in western Cameroon show conclusive
evidence of Roman presence. Greek and Romans were not racist; they were
conquerors. There was full integration within the Roman army7 as long as
one accepted citizenship. The conflict was political and territorial.
Thus were created groupings of people that were culturally and
racially mixed. Africans to this day, as we shall see, held great respect for
their ancestors regardless of their “color.” The legacy of slavery and
colonization completely obfuscated this aspect of African history, and the
understanding of African art suffered tremendously as a result. Though the
memory somewhat faltered after five centuries (classic African art as we
know it today, at least what is left of it began around the tenth century AD),
African art managed to keep alive a tradition of honor to the dead that saw
no race or color barrier. Asians8, African or European ancestors found their
place in the African pantheon.

AFRICAN ART REVISITED

the sixteenth centuries AD. Lake Chad was the crossing point to the salt trade that
connected North, East, West and Central Africa from for centuries)
7
A famous Caesar named Septimus Severus was bi-racial (African/Caucasian) and there
were many African soldiers and officers in the Romans army as there were African in the
upper class in Rome.
8
The most scholars have said about an Asian origin of Africans has been to mention a
Middle East influence. It is indeed difficult to find the historical link here. However, the
example of the Jewish African in southern Africa clearly showed how such a migration
was possible.
 Two centuries in limbo of what could be called “the cult of tribalism”
almost denuded African art of its authenticity. The ostracism of institutional
structures of the classic period not only blurred the understanding of African
artistic expression, but also denied African artists any individuality
whatsoever.
Much has already been written about colonialism. The diatribe is
generally political, with sporadic and timid attempts to address the moral
issues. The genocidal spree that decimated the continent, where close to a
million Bamileke were burned to ashes by French troops during the
independence movement era, is barely addressed and often hidden. What is
clear is that when historical evidence of such unfavorable acts of colonialism
did appear, they were rejected for personal and/or political reasons. The
mass killing was “officially” asserted to be a civil war. Eventually, a French
pilot named Bardet found within him the courage to address the Bamileke
genocide9 and published a book entitled OK Cargo, in which he compared
the killing to Attila10 and confirmed that at least 400,000 people were
murdered and three hundred villages burned to the ground. Sadly, the
Bamileke massacre was not the exception in Africa.
This speaks to an important aspect of humanity: the African tragedy is
really the human tragedy. If humanity is the result of a complex and infinite
soup of genes, any human that dies is a potential loss for all. When people
9
“Bardet was a helicopter pilot who took part in the military the military campaign
between 1962 and 1964 in the Bamileke region. Bardet does not hesitate to use the word
“genocide”, an officially planned scheme to physically eliminate an ethnic group. ..The
genocide was followed by spreading fire on Bamileke possessions in other regions of the
nation, Among those were the systematic burning of the Congo quarter in 1960 in
Douala; the Madagascar and Briqueterie in Yaounde; the Nlobe and Tombell arson in
Moungo regions…how many Bamileke perished in these planned and deliberate arsons is
yet to be established…”Silvia Nagy, Edward W. Said., Sylvia N.-Zekmi, in Paradoxical
Citizenship, Lexington Books, 2006, p.180. Read also Le Chemin de l’Unite by Jos-
Blaise Alima and OK Cargo by Bardet. The Bamileke genocide continued until 1970
when it was stopped by the works of unsung heroes of the African tragedy. Other notable
works includes Je Me Souviens de Ruben- Mon Temoignage Sur Le Maquis
Camerounais (1953-1970) by Stephane Privali, Karthala, 2000
10
Attila the Huns (c. 448 AD) pierced the page of history with the brutality of his
conquest over Europe notably the total destruction of Aquilea in Italy (raised to the
ground). “The name Attila is associated with untold horrors and vandalism…” wrote
George Horton, US Consul at Smyrna (Free republic, browse search. Smyrna 1922: The
Destruction of a city, posted August 30, 2003, Destro). When in his book OK Cargo, one
of the French officers involved in the Bamileke genocide compared what happened then
to Attila, he was fully aware of the pungency of his words. How many times in world
history were three hundred villages turned to ashes?
die en masse, it is humanity as a whole that is diminished, including the
potential loss of select biological ingredients in humankind.
When it comes to art, African art suffered great autodafe (burning of
books during the inquisition) when it was burned in ancient Kongo
following Portuguese invasion, despite conscientious Portuguese priests
writing to the Pope and expressing their surprise that in Africa people not
only understood the Bible, but also knew even more about theology than
they expected. These cultural links, alas, are lost to us. We have to go back
to history in order to relocate value and meaning. Ancient belief and
knowledge had their value. The cultural heritage of Africa so admired by the
Greeks was, and remains, important to all of civilization.

In African Art, history matters not only as an epic narrative. It matters

because it gives back to human civilization the wealth of a continent that
saw in its bosom the continuous expression of human existence through its
many tragedies as well as its triumphs. African art is truly a narrative in that
it tells in forms and symbols the story of humanity. Indeed, the African
continent has, through centuries and millennium, been the battleground of
people and culture, as well as the playground of the gods.
Before the artificial division of the colonial era Africa knew no
frontier. Thus, several hundred thousand years ago, the descendants of
Mitochondrial Eve11 moved freely from Africa to the rest of the world and
back again. That great journey eventually blossomed into the global
humanity as we know it today. But, the cultural balkanization of the
continent that erupted out of the early twentieth century in effect created a
“cancer” in the human family. An artificial notion of “the other” was created
(colonialism and neo-colonialism). When it comes to art, this was
tantamount to a lobotomy. The corpus of our commonality found itself
excised and thrown into limbs of ignorance. We developed strange
approaches to the understanding of the world.
Thankfully, African art survived. It survived the autodafe and the
“burning” of sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when the new evangelists
in perhaps the greatest cultural misunderstanding of world’s history rejected
African Art, confusing it with ‘Evil worshippers’ paraphernalia’. It survived
slavery and colonialism that forced millions of people to divorce from their
culture. It also survived the destruction of African kingdoms and the carving

11
Mitochondrial Eve or Lucy has been proven by Mitochondrial DNA analysis to be the
common ancestor to all people on earth. She lived between 300,000 and 200,000 years
ago in East Africa.
of the continent that dismembered cultural entities. It survived because it
was powerful and it was powerful because it carries within its artistic
framework the testimony of humanity. This testimony, translated by inspired
individuals that were not only talented but well educated in the history and
culture of their people, lies today in our laps. It is well protected in world
museums and private collections, the new guardians of this human legacy
that is African Art.

i
HH Joseph Feyou de Happy published many books on Bamileke culture and history. He
was the director of Cameroun’s National Institute of Education or INE (1978) and Vice-
president of Cameroon National Assemblee. He is the son of king Hapi Ptahfu of Bana,
the last king (Foe, Feu, Fon, Phae) of Bamileke (d. 1981)
ii
A term widely used today made popular by Belgian author Tempels in his famous book
‘Bantu Philosohpy’ published in 1962 by Presence Africaine.
iii
Garamantes were a mix population and they built great castles now uncover by
archeological works. Romans described one garamantes prisoner as being “black as
pitch”. Ivan Van Sertima, Golden Age of the Moor, Transaction Publicher, 1992