The problem of "authenticity" of traditional African objects, rituals and / or social values \u200b\u200bor just artifacts of material culture is long standing and thorny: the contemporary cultural context, scholars have debated until the '60s (Frank Willet and Henri Kamer among others) and a whole number of American magazine African Arts was devoted to discussing this issue (vol.IX, No. 3, apr.1976). Basically
position on the field in my opinion can be attributed to two interpretations, although with different variations: the first see a fuzzy scale between objects and definitely authentic and ancient objects undoubtedly false, with all gradations in between they see pieces participating in part and in varying degrees of both categories mentioned, the second point of view, which I personally agree with and now it seems to me that culturally dominant, though not the "majority" and in any case large resistance even at academic level (in the field of cultural anthropology), believes there is a clear separation between objects "authentic" (in which there is an obvious scale of aesthetic values, and different degrees of anthropology antiquity and rarity) and articles " non-authentic "(ranging from real fake, created only to be sold and above all for deceiving customers about their real essence and antiquities, which are copies of rebuilding, often created by the peoples 'right' and used in ritual context "right" style but with a very evident decline due to the fact that the system of culture of the people themselves has changed profoundly in touch with modernity and Western civilization).
I have two examples: there is still a copious production of Dogon masks, but these can not be considered "authentic" as we follow this reasoning just now expressed as carved only to be sold to tourists, even after being "danced" round and flat forms of Teke TSAY still exist but can not be considered "authentic" because the historical and ethnological investigations have discovered that certain types went into disuse in that population in the early years of the 900 and only in the 60s and 70s a renewed political tendency of the country has encouraged the restoration of the cultural tradition, but in Meanwhile it was completely lost and therefore has been rebuilt around a table and no original components of anthropological (and, therefore, the only Teke TSAY be considered "authentic" - according to many commentators - are the few masks, a dozen in all, that were made in Europe before the year '20 / '30).
Many scholars and enthusiasts are convinced that today is no longer possible to find in Africa the original objects of some importance and aesthetic value, because the collection (in some cases an actual sack) has already taken place: in the most distant epochs for some ethnic groups (the first decades of the twentieth century for objects from Gabon and the Congo for many objects and Africa Central) in the early years after World War II (most of Dogon sculpture, and many items of West Africa), until relatively recent years (the objects in Nigeria after the Biafran war in the 70s) or recent (the statuesque Lamba / Loss of northern Togo, as a research topic and an exhibition in Paris last year alone).
I personally am of the opinion - based on the testimonies of many of my correspondents who regularly and periodically visit the (few) African regions free of war - if it is true that for many of the ethnic groups considered more important to be very difficult , if not impossible, to find a few really authentic and valid object on the ground, for other populations is still possible to find some beautiful specimen, particularly in cases where there is obviously still alive and quite a cultural tradition or ceremonial occasions Rital / social environments in which these objects "serve" again. And 'know, for example, that certain populations of West Africa (such as the Lobi ethnic groups or linked to Voudou as the Ewe and Fon) continues with impunity to produce items for their traditional uses and, therefore, these objects are believed to be " authentic "even though they were carved in recent times.
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