Into the mainstream: Shifting authenticities in art

Abstract

When artists who were once dubbed “primitive” find themselves operating in a freshly expanded environment, with an international clientele, new materials to work with, access to urban exhibition spaces, the counsel of culture brokers, and options for travel abroad, their response can include highly creative innovations in both the forms they produce and the interpretations they offer of their work. The new environment can sometimes even lead to adjustments in their vision of the origins and meanings of their artistic heritage. In this article, I trace the recent history of art made by Maroon men in the Guianas, following its mutation from a form of expression for internal consumption, largely as gifts for wives and lovers, to a commodity sold in an external market.

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