Over the past 20 years, we have been able to collect several Lobi “maternité” objects.

This led to the idea of publishing a book on „mother and child“ representations. We asked selected collectors if they had more “maternités” in their collections, and we were quite amazed at how many objects were made available to us.

Mother and child representations can be found in almost all epochs and cultures. Pregnancy and maternity were always of paramount importance for the survival of the group, tribe and humanity. By giving birth, feeding and usually also through the education of a child, the woman gained an immensely important role in the social structure of the people. Naturally, there are many examples of „mother and child“ objects among other tribes in Africa. Even in modern art, artists gave their attention to the subject.

It is therefore very interesting to see how varied the artists from the Pays Lobi have translated this ancient maternity theme into their own sculptural language.

The various representations of “maternités” are very large among the ethnic groups living there. It ranges from naturalistic representations to the cubist-looking sculptures and abstract objects.

The representation of the mother in interplay with her child is depicted in very different ways. First there is the power, then the “beauty” and only rarely the affection for the child. The protective function can be seen in some sculptures. There are comparatively „classical“ and, in the Western sense, „beautiful“ representations. In addition, there are also very unusual and abstract compositions, which break some anatomical laws.

In this book over 100 objects are presented. The systematic classification into several chapters was organized according to the different positions of the mother and child and to the materials used (wood, clay and bronze).

We have deliberately chosen black-and-white photographs, since we believe that this further emphasises the sculptural quality of the objects.

It is our hope that this book increases the knowledge about the art of the Pays Lobi and further increase the appreciation of these sculptures in the art world.