Smithsonian Libraries African Art Index Project DSI Search this
Physical description:
50-59 : col. ill
Type:
Books
Place:
South Africa
Johannesburg
Date:
1993
Notes:
Extracted from: Style (Johannesburg) June 1993, pages 50-59.
Levin investigated the shady side of the African art market as Congolese art floods into South Africa. He found Congolese merchants occupying an entire row of stalls at Johannesburg's Newtown flea market. And a wide range of homes are displaying art works that are "in the twilight zone of authenticity between curio and art." For practical purposes, the local currency in Congo is worthless, so bartering art for needed items has become a way of life. Congolese museums are closed, and Levin found it difficult to verify rumors that locals pillaged them for valuable loot. Some art dealers maintain that most of the art from Congo has been recently manufactured and made to look old, and they seem only slightly threatened by the Congolese presence.
