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Simon Ottenberg
When I carried out research among the Igbo at Afikpo in southeastern Nigeria in 1952-1953 and 1959-1960 I studied masquerades, becoming friends with a local carver, Chukwu Okoro, who sculpted for me a set of the typical Afikpo mask forms. My collecting interests were related to my research but the art delighted me.
I did no more collecting until 1970-1971, when teaching and writing at the University of Ghana, I got the collecting "bug," coming home with a crate of pieces, some that I now realize were awful—I must have bought them on dark nights! My collection came to focus on West Africa, not for research reasons but because I was attracted by the work, which was visually pleasing and ego-satisfying. I continued buying in the U.S., and occasionally in England.
In 1978-1980, I was in northern Sierra Leone studying Limba rituals. I obtained lots of clothing, cloths, charms, beaded bands, baskets, hammocks, and so on, on which I took copious notes. I purchased some sculptures from other parts of the country in Freetown.
I collected West African objects until the mid-1980s for pleasure. By then, good affordable African pieces became hard to find and I stopped. But between 1992 and 1997 I did research on contemporary Nigerian art, curated an exhibition, and wrote a book, for which I purchased works from Nigerian artists. So I have come back to full circle, from obtaining art for research, to collecting it for its own sake, to works obtained for research interests. African art has brought me much pleasure—I never saw it as an investment, except in my research. In keeping with this outlook, I was not interested in selling the African art I have collected over the years. Based on a long-standing relationship with Ray Silverman (he was a student of mine at the University of Washington in the 1970s), Michigan State University's excellent African Studies Program, and its special relationship with the Nsukka campus of the University of Nigeria, I decided to bequeath a good part of my collection to Michigan State University Museum.
Collector / Donor Statements
Virginia Artis . Nancy and George Axinn . Marsha MacDowell and Kurt Dewhurst . James Ellison . Robert Glew . Suzanne Miers . Simon Ottenberg . Barbara Porter-Spaulding . Raymond Silverman . Neal Sobania . Robert Zigler
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