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Daïrou – Master Bamum Artist – Dies
The great popular Bamum painter, the artist Daïrou, has died. Daïrou Ghozen was born on 7th May 1955 at Koufen (Nkoundoum) in Foumban. He died on Monday 30th April 2007. He was buried according to Islamic tradition on Tuesday 1st May and the funeral was held on Sunday 6th May 2007. Daïrou’s wife preceded him in death, and he leaves behind two children, a 12 year-old boy and a 7 year-old girl. Friends are urged to make a donation to a fund in support of the education of Daïrou’s children, via the contact page of the Bamum Scripts and Archives Project. Daïrou is known far and wide in the Bamum kingdom for his grand public artistic projects – painting mosques, churches, and residences. He also painted murals on walls of businesses, colorful backdrops in photo studios, and even barbershop signs. His work is to be found everywhere in the Bamum capital in Foumban and throughout much of the Bamum kingdom. Daïrou developed his trade in Foumban, doing so without formal artistic training and with only a primary school education. He was never an apprentice of a great master, his artistic talents developed instead through steady observation of successful artists in Foumban and Douala, where he worked for about ten years in the employee of the textile company CICAM. Daïrou was a great contributor to the arts of the Royal Palace of Bamum Kings and an enthusiastic supporter of the Bamum Scripts and Archives Project. Although Daïrou never learned to read the Bamum script, he often featured the script in his paintings and murals. He was responsible for painting the official king list outside the Royal Palace of Bamum Kings. Daïrou had many artistic feats over the course of his lifetime, notably his murals depicting Bamum history in the palace courtyard as well as those in the palace cultural center. One of his greatest accomplishments occurred only recently, just before the recent Nguon celebration in December 2006, when he painted the inside of the palace with elaborate indigo kingship designs. This is the first time that the giant pillars inside the great hall of the Bamum palace have appeared with designs and in any color other than white. The festive designs were universally appreciated and now, with Daïrou’s passing, will remain a monument to his unique contributions to the Bamum palace and advancement of Bamum arts. In 2006, Daïrou began working with the Bamum Scripts and Archives project team, illustrating scenes and historical events recovered from translations of books written in the Bamum script. Recently this was the Lerewa Nuu Nguet, Sultan Ibrahim Nyoya’s Book of Love (1921). Daïrou led a team of Bamum artists in this work, which included fellow artists such as Idrissou Njoya, Mama Nsangou, Ismael Tita Mbohou, and Edouard Ndouop. Daïrou – the father, the artist, and friend – was an inspiration and will be sadly missed by all. Nji Oumarou Nchare and Konrad Tuchscherer
Professor Tuchscherer Speaks at the Smithsonian Institution
A lecture on African scripts and symbols delivered by Professor Konrad Tuchscherer, Ph.D. , helped inaugurate a new exhibition at the National Museum of African Art, part of the Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, DC on May 12. The exhibit, entitled “Inscribing Meaning,” deals with alphabets and scripts from Africa, many of them shrouded in mystery. Speaking to a large audience in a packed lecture hall, Tuchscherer recounted the dramatic story of the discovery of the Rosetta stone and the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs. He talked about ancient rock art in the Sahara Desert, African cosmograms found in Mali and Kenya, and the 2,000-year-old alphabets of the Tuaregs and Ethiopians. He concluded his talk with highlights of the Bamum Scripts and Archives Project. In addition to his lecture, Tuchscherer made important contributions to the Smithsonian exhibition, such as photographs from his fieldwork, a chapter on the history of writing to the exhibition catalogue, and translations of some scripts in the exhibition. Link: |
