Photographs and Posters from der Series "Tipo Passe“, 2014
Edson Chagas, from the Series "Tipo Passe", Emmanuel C. Bofala, 2014
For his series “Tipo Passe“, Edson Chagas used a variety of traditional Bantu masks. In contrast to the usual museal-taxonomic staging as sculptural artefacts, Chagas had actual models wear the African masks, thus bringing them back to their original performative use in cultural-spiritual life.
The artist works with clear decontextualisations. Detached from their historical background and transferred to the present by people in modern dress, they collide with prevailing positioning strategies. Formally, the series “Tipo Passe” (passport) is specifically oriented towards the presentation of a neutral passport. In content, however, the individuality of the wearer of the mask is concealed. The mask becomes part of the identity to be questioned, linked to historical lineage and characterised by social attributions of a supposedly “typical African” stereotype.
Part of the series will be placed in the exhibition space in Schwerin, while a parallel part will exist in the form of posters outside. The simple presentation form of the portraits on cardboard, as well as their placement outside and attached to trees, is based on the usual strategies of election canvassing.
Edson Chagas, from the Series “Tipo Passe”, Fernando L. Makélélé, 2014
Edson Chagas, from the Series “Tipo Passe”, Salvador D. Kimbangu, 2014
Edson Chagas, Am Grünen Tal, Photo: Hans-Georg Gaul
For his series “Tipo Passe“, Edson Chagas used a variety of traditional Bantu masks. In contrast to the usual museal-taxonomic staging as sculptural artefacts, Chagas had actual models wear the African masks, thus bringing them back to their original performative use in cultural-spiritual life.
The artist works with clear decontextualisations. Detached from their historical background and transferred to the present by people in modern dress, they collide with prevailing positioning strategies. Formally, the series “Tipo Passe” (passport) is specifically oriented towards the presentation of a neutral passport. In content, however, the individuality of the wearer of the mask is concealed. The mask becomes part of the identity to be questioned, linked to historical lineage and characterised by social attributions of a supposedly “typical African” stereotype.
Part of the series will be placed in the exhibition space in Schwerin, while a parallel part will exist in the form of posters outside. The simple presentation form of the portraits on cardboard, as well as their placement outside and attached to trees, is based on the usual strategies of election canvassing.