ProblematizingPrimarySources:InterviewingAfricanArtists AaronKohn 1 andPhilipSandick 2 Founders,AfricanLookbook Throughtheearlypartofthe20thcentury,AfricanArtwassynonymouswithanthropology. Althoughmethodologiesofknowledgeandtheavailabilityofreportagehavegrownandchanged sincethen,manyAfricanartists,writers,thinkersandcuratorsarestilllimitedtooldparadigmsof viewingandsharingtheirownwork. Primarilyforthisreason,westartedthefirstlargescaleoralhistoryprojectonAfricancreatives. Bothacademicsandsubjects(andpotentialsubjects)ofinterviewshaveexpressedgreatinterestin ourcreationofabodyofprimarysourcesthatexploresthewaysAfricansarebeingrepresented andaremoderatingtheirownidentitiesaroundtheworld. ThispaperproblematizesAfricanLookbook.Wewereawareofsomeproblemsbeforewe started,thoughothersonlyarosethroughourprocess.OluOguiberaisesrelevantissuesinhis seminaltextsonAfricanartintheglobalmarketplace.

3 ZoeStrutherraisesothersinherwritingon theroleoftheinterviewwithAfricanartists.4 Wehavefoundmorestill:sometimestheoretical, sometimesmerelypractical.TheseissuesrangefromdefiningwhoisAfricanenoughtobe includedinthearchive,5 tofindingotherarchiveswithAfricanholdings,toensuringrelevanceboth toAfricanscholarsandtoglobalartcommunities,6 toextremelagsintranscriptapproval,toa projectonAfricancreativesstartedandrunbytwowhiteAmericans.Someoftheseissueswere raisedbysubjectsthemselves. Lastly,AfricanLookbooksacademiceffortiscomplementedandsupportedbyaforprofitshop ofgoodsfromAfricathatarenarrativizedbyneighboringoralhistories.Thismarriagecomeswith itsownuniquesetofpotentialproblemsandbenefits. Throughthepresentationofbothinterviewsandexperiences,thispaperinterrogatesourprocess andprovidesinsightintoprimaryresearchonindividualswhoareAfricanand creativeamongotherthings.7
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ColumbiaUniversityallcorrespondenceto:AaronPKohn,15725ShakerBlvd,ShakerHeights,OH44120USA, apk2116@columbia.edu 2 MA,OralHistory,ColumbiaUniversityphil.sandick@gmail.com. 3 OluOguibe,TheCultureGame(Minneapolis:UniversityofMinnesotaPress,2004). 4 ZoeStrother,"Editorial:AfricanWorks:AnxiousEncountersintheVisualArts,"RES:JournalofAnthropology andAestheticsDevotedtoMethodology,no.39(2001):523. 5 ChinuaAchebe,"AfricaandHerWriters,"TheMassachusettsReview14,no.3(1973):61729. 6 JohannesFabian,RememberingthePresent(UniversityofCalifornia:1996),MomentsofFreedom:Anthropology andPopularCulture(UniversityofVirginia:1998),TimeandtheOther:HowAnthropologyMakesItsObject (ColumbiaUniversity:2002),EthnographyasCommentary:WritingfromtheVirtualArchive(DukeUniversity: 2008). 7 JacquesDerrida,TheOtherHeading:ReflectionsonTodaysEurope(IndianaUniversityPress,1992),20.