Painting on cloth by Olayinka Burney-Nical, Freetown, Sierra Leone

Object Details

Local Numbers: H-37/1978-1980
General: Title source: Dr. Simon Ottenberg, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.

See more items in: Simon Ottenberg photographs of Limba and Afikpo Peoples; Simon Ottenberg photographs of Limba and Afikpo Peoples / Series 1: Limba Peoples, Sierra Leone and Guinea / 1.2: Field Research, Year Two / Freetown, Sierra Leone

Archival Repository: Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art

Collection Rights: Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws. Photographs by Pa Huff, Hamaidu Mansaray, and Labelle Prussin are restricted. In these cases, the photographer's permission is required for access and publication of images.

Scope and Contents: This photograph was taken by Dr. Simon Ottenberg while conducting field research in northern Sierra Leone within Bafodea Town, the capital of Wara Wara Bafodea Chiefdom, from February, 16, 1988 through March 04, 1988.; Original title reads, "Freetown, after visiting Bafodea. Brookfield Hotel, one of the better hotels. Painting on cloth at the hotel by Olayinka Burney-Nical. At the time she was the best modern artist in Sierra Leone, later moving to London and working almost entirely in painted cloth. Of Krio background (and from her name also Yoruba background). Her painting was based upon a photography of an Opa Nwa mask of the Afikpo people, an Igbo group, southeastern Nigeria, where I had done field work. I had given her a copy of the book (The Masked Rituals of Afikpo: The Context of an African Art, 1975). In the hotel drinks' lounge." [Ottenberg field research notes, Limba Slides and Photographs, February 1988-March 1988].

Collection Restrictions: Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.

Other Archival Materials: Simon Ottenberg Papers are located at the National Anthropological Archives, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.