Togo Artist Emmanuel Sogbadji

On the last afternoon of our West Africa tour, we visited a gallery and the studio of Emmanuel Sogbadji, one of Togo's most important artists (a stamp has been issued in his honor), a painter and sculptor with an international reputation. The sculpture exhibit is discussed on-line at this website; it has links to Courbet and Brancusi, as well as to Togolese themes. I particularly enjoyed the paintings in his studio, which struck me as comparable to those of the best of contemporary painters.

It was nice to end our Tribal Africa: Ghana, Togo, and Benin tour - which properly emphasized traditional life, art, and customs - with a demonstration that contemporary art from this region, taking inspiration from both traditional and modern themes, is fully deserving of a place on the current world stage.

Lomé Central Market

Much bigger, more crowded, and more important to everyday life is the Lomé Central Market. Photographs tend to be discouraged here by the "Nana Benz", the women who control the market, but I managed to get a few. It's interesting to compare the narrow aisles and crowding here to Walmart stores in the USA. In the West Africa we have seen, almost all selling is done from tiny, outdoor stalls tended by one or two shopkeepers.

We stopped in this modern store on the edge of the market, so members of our group might find something more akin to their tastes. The contrast with the traditional market stalls is striking.

Lomé Fetish Market

On the last day of our tour we're back in Togo, in its capital city of Lomé. As usual in cities, the markets are a big attraction to tourists (as well as necessities to residents) and Lomé has an especially striking one: the Fetish Market, where, according to Wilderness Travel, "we can find an eclectic assortment of all the necessary ingredients for love potions and magical concoctions."

Voodoo Dance Ceremony

From the Wilderness Travel brochure: "Although for many Europeans, voodoo is only a vulgar form of black magic, in truth, voodoo is a true religion, far richer and more complex than people often think. In a remote hidden village, we will join a voodoo ceremony. The frenetic rhythm of the drums and chants help in calling in the voodoo spirit, who then takes possession of some of the dancers. They fall into a deep trance, eyes rolling back, grimaces, convulsions, insensitivity to fire or pain. Sakpata, Heviesso, and Mami Water are just some of the voodoo divinities who can show up. In this remote village, surrounded by the magic atmosphere of the ceremony, we will finally understand what people mean when they say “In your churches you pray to god; in our voodoo shrine, we become god!”

Voudou Medicine

We visited the compound of a Voudou healer. (He was not there, but his assistant was, and explained things to us via our guide as interpreter.) There were different buildings for different practices; we visited the one for pregnancy.

Zangbeto Mask Dance

From the Wilderness Travel brochure: "In the morning, we reach a village where we can attend a Zangbeto masked dance. The Zangbeto mask is covered with colored straw and represents wild, non-human spirits, such as the forces of nature and of the time before human beings. The mask-wearers belong to a secret society and keep their identity hidden, as the non-initiated cannot know who they are. When Zangbeto comes out, it is an important event for the village. Its performance guarantees protection against bad spirits and malicious people. The spinning movement of the mask symbolizes the spiritual cleaning of the village, and Zangbeto also performs miracles to prove its powers."

This is the third mask ceremony we have encountered on this tour - each of them distinctive.

The elders welcome guests with a ceremonial drink.

The mask spins...

...and is tipped over but there is no sign of the spinner inside.

The mask is returned to upright, and continues its spinning.

This is a farming community, so goats and pigs casually cross the dancing grounds.

The ceremony provides an occasion for happy, vigorous dancing.

Ouidah Beach

We walked a bit along the beach near our hotel in the morning, to get a sense of the nearby fishing village: boats painted with religious phrases, shacks among the palms, repair of nets, and children looking on.

A bit further down the beach was this monument, the Memorial of the Great Jubilee of 2000, intended to commemorate the “first messengers of good news to Dahomey”, which seems to have been intended as a counterpoint to the Door of No Return. (Ouidah was a major slave port.) For a discussion of the complexities of this symbolism, see this article.