Antique writing desk merges with African mask in Sonia E. Barrett sculpture—huge
When we think of European colonization of Africa, one period that comes to mind is the mid to late 1800s, known as the Scramble for Africa. The British, French, Spanish and Portuguese – mostly – had taken control of communities along the coast. It was during this period that the promise of resource extraction and further economic gain in the hinterland became increasingly attractive. But the so-called scramble for Africa has not yet begun.
By the 1870s, Europeans controlled a tenth of the continent, most of it in the north, along the Mediterranean coast and in the far south. The Dutch East India Company established the first European settlement in Africa in 1652 at Cape Town. But the transatlantic slave trade had been active for nearly a century and would continue for nearly two centuries, during which time 12.5 million or more people were shipped aboard ships, mostly bound for the New World.
During this time, colonists wrote and communicated all messages by hand. The small, portable wooden desk allows you to send letters from almost anywhere, with a fold-out surface covered in leather and storage areas for pens, nibs and ink.
For artist Sonia E. Barrett, these antique desks provide a tangible connection to a long era of greed, violence and cultural conflicts that often tell one-sided histories. “These were the laptops of their day,” Barrett said of the portable tools that make up hers. table series. “They ‘wrote Africa’ in letters, diaries and reports back home that now make up the archive of Afro-Europe.”
In addition to Edwardian writing surfaces, Barrett uses reclaimed wood, leather, velvet, pen, ink, and wicker to animate her sculptures with expressive faces reminiscent of African ceremonial masks. “I thought (the tables) might have been a way of speaking to empire, beyond the archival letters written on the tables.”
Although different regions and cultures on the African continent have created unique masks reflecting their beliefs and traditions since ancient times, the European fashion for collecting these items gave rise to a commercial industry that continues to this day. Similar to wooden tables covered in leather or velvet, carved African masks are hewn from wood and upholstered in leather. The mahogany used to make the writing desk matures in tropical climates and “was transported in much the same way as we do,” the artist said, referring to the international African slave trade.
Barrett added a wicker structure to the base of the table that suggests shoulders and body, and can also be worn loosely, like people wearing ceremonial clothing. In a sense, these fragments are like pipes or metaphysical transport devices. “These heads can be integrated with bodies from across the African diaspora, allowing us to reach back in time, just as they enabled our ancestors,” the artist said.
Some of Barrett’s sculptures are on display as part of the exhibition The Land Underground: Material Memory and the Resilience of Hope The Messums exhibition in London runs until November 15th. Find out more on the artist’s website and Instagram.
