Μάσκα από ξύλο - Guro - Ακτή Ελεφαντοστού (χωρίς τιμή ασφαλείας)

A Guro mask, Ivory Coast, Oume region. Certificate of origin and provenance. Incl. stand.

“The Guro generally called themselves Kwen or Kwenim The name Guro was originally used but other groups including Baule, who lived further east, then quickly adopted by the French colonial authorities and eventually widely accepted by the Guro people themselves. In any case it refers to several groups of people who speak the same language with a few dialectal differences, and live in a region in the centre west Ivory Coast. While the Western art market prizes carved wooden objects , the Guro actually produce and appreciate various other forms of art…For the Guro, art was a community affairs never a specialized occupation… Because it required mastery of fire blacksmithing was still held in hight esteem even if the blacksmith himself was feared rather than envied for the ambiguous stature that cam from handling necessarily and potentially dangerous forces.”

Source; Anne Marie Bouttiaux, Vision of Africa, GURO, 2016.

Height: 44 cm without stand

"I believe that the import of all art objects from Africa—whether copies or originals—should be prohibited to protect Africa." Quote: Prof. Dr. Viola König, former director of the Ethnological Museum of Berlin, now HUMBOLDTFORUM

Legal Framework

Under the 1970 UNESCO Convention in combination with the Kulturgutschutz Gesetz (KGSG) any claim for the restitution of cultural property becomes time-barred three years after the competent authorities of the State of origin obtain knowledge of the object’s location and the identity of its possessor.
All bronzes and terracotta items offered have been publicly exhibited in Wolfgang Jaenicke Gallery since 2001. Organisations such as DIGITAL BENIN and academic institutions such as the Technical University of Berlin, which have been intensively involved in restitution-reseaches (translocation-project) over the past seven years, are aware of our work, have inspected large parts of our collection and have visited us in our dependance in Lomé, Togo, among other places, to learn about the international Art trade on site. Furthermore, the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) in Abuja, Nigeria, has been informed about our collection. In no case in the past have there been restitution claims against private institutions such as the Wolfgang Jaenicke Gallery

Our Gallery addresses these structural challenges through a policy of maximum transparency and documentation. Should any questions or uncertainties arise, we invite you to contact us. Each matter will be reviewed diligently using all available resources.