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Central African Art -Invocation of an Unseen World

Product Name in original language
召喚無形：中部非洲藝術展
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The catalogue was published for the exhibition "Central African Art -Invocation of an Unseen World” at the Indra and Harry Banga Gallery

Sub-Saharan Central Africa is a vibrant and diverse land. Its typography ranges from lush rainforest to vast tropical grassland, breathtaking equatorial snow-capped mountains, and expansive lakes. The artistic traditions of Central Africa reflect this environmental richness and diversity.

To navigate through this varied geographic environment and social landscape, we have divided Central Africa into six zones––West Central Africa, Zandeland, Deep Central Africa, Kuba, Luba, and the Great Lakes Region.

Presenting nearly 200 Central African artworks and aided by new media, this exhibition is a journey into the forgotten world of Central African arts. The objects date mainly from 19th to early 20th century, a period when most communities still maintained their independence, cultural identity, and artistic traditions. Embedded within these societies’ social fabric and ritual life, the exhibited pieces were not merely beautiful objects, but also possessed a clear function. That the greatest artistic attention was lavished on sculptures, masks, or weapons––the three treasures of Central African art––reflects their dominant roles in society.

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ISBN
978-962-442-476-8
Pub. Date
Jan 1, 2026
Weight
3.5kg
Hardcover
240 pages
Dimension
240 x 305 mm
Subjects
Keywords
Central African Art -Invocation of an Unseen World
Since its inception in 2016, the Indra and Harry Banga Gallery (the Gallery) of City University of Hong Kong has established itself as a vibrant hub for global cultural exchange. Over the years, the Gallery has achieved remarkable success through collaborations with artists, curators, museums, and art organisations worldwide, presenting over 20 thoughtfully curated exhibitions and fostering a rich cultural dialogue that transcends geographical boundaries. The Gallery not only reaches out to the global community, it also proactively connects with the diverse communities of international students and academics in the city. It plays a pivotal role in advancing the over-arching objectives of internationalisation and promoting the inter-cultural dialogues of CityUHK, which has been recognised as the ‘Most International University in the World’ in 2024 and 2025 by Times Higher Education.

Moreover, the Gallery serves as a pioneering platform for cultural innovation and translational research in Art Technology. Through forward-thinking exhibitions and projects that leverage CityUHK’s leading research in creative media, the Gallery strives to expand the boundaries of curatorial practices by integrating interactive media technologies with the display of physical artworks, and explore new mediums and representational methods to redefine the way art is experienced and understood. This approach not only enhances the overall visitor experience, but deepens engagement and magnifies knowledge-transmission through multi-sensory means. Our commitment to advancing museological frontiers and engaging new audiences has also enabled the Gallery to attract a wider and more diverse group of visitors. Through these efforts, the Gallery has earned recognition for its inclusive, innovative, and interdisciplinary exhibitions that delve into the dynamic interplay between intellectual practices as well as different knowledge domains. Such a unique focus has set the Gallery apart from peer universities and cemented its position in HKSAR cultural
landscape at large.


Kathy Chan
Associate Vice-President (Development) and Secretary-General of Foundation, CityUHK

Alvin Yip
Director of the Indra and Harry Banga Gallery, CityUHK

Preface

Acknowledgements

Foreword

Curatorial Paper: Martial Culture in Central Africa: Interplay of Environmental & Social Factors

Exhibition Catalogue 1. Sculptures2. Masks3. Weapons4. Geographical Zones Conclusion

New Media: Encountering Central African Spirituality through Digital Liminality

Appendices

Bibliography

Contributors

Credits for the Exhibition

Hing Chao is a noted researcher and patron of nomadic culture in North China. Since founding the Orochen Foundation in 2003, he has been at the forefront of preserving and revitalizing the endangered cultural heritage of the Orochen, China’s last nomadic hunters. Over the last 20 years, he has led multiple field expeditions to Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang province, and eastern Siberia. He has created the largest collection of Orochen field recordings and, between 2006 and 2012, assembled the last Orochen ethnographic collection at a time of rapid loss. He is also the founder of Hong Kong Culture Festival and well-known for his research and diverse body of work related to Chinese martial arts.