Trivial Art Tribal Art = TA-TA

Art lovers often tend to destroy what they most admire. How many masterpieces have lost all meaning and power after being exposed to uninformed admiration and popularity? Many instances will come to mind. But fortunately this coin has two sides. Sometimes this passion for art of which 1 am complaining can help to reveal a new area by focusing attention on objects vanishing unnoticed by the outside world. This is exactly what has happened to the Yao taoist paintings during the past four years. These unique art objects might have been thrown away in despair by worshippers who (for reason of poverty or political pressure) could no longer practice the prescribed rituals, or burned at the order of some Christian missionary groups, or destroyed by communist zealots. Instead, they have been spared such a fate thanks to the interest shown in them by curio collectors and connoisseurs of Asian art. As a result, the sacred paintings of the Yao have made their way to international recognition. Their value to their original owners was a purely religious one. But, as they became more widely known, they acquired also a consider- able monetary value, increasing in proportion to the growing interest shown in them by would be buyers. Since 197 5, their price in the open market has risen no less than fifteen fold. This has no doubt led to a better understanding of their true worth on the part of the Yao and those through whose hands they pass. Orders to bum these treasures as 'Satan's paraphernalia' are less often heard since they certainly would not be fonowed nowadays. In Laos, one may venture to hope that even a zealous revolutionary may one day decide that Yao paintings are worth preserving for exhibition in a future 'People's Museum'. But, by that time, it is likely that not many of them will be left to acquire. As a matter of fact, the present abundance of these paintings stems from severe changes in the life of the Yao, caused by the Pathet Lao take over. Whether they fled to Thailand, or remained in their villages in the hope of surviving the drastic measures imposed on them by the Lao communist bureaucracy, many Yao people nevertheless found it impossible to continue their traditional religious practices. As a result they decided to dispose of their most treasured possession: that is, the set of taoist paintings which every true devotee should ideally possess. Some dealers estimate that at least three to four hundred sets must have been sold already. But this abundant flow to the international market is already diminishing, and will dry up entirely if political pressures are eventually relaxed. One must remember that, only ten years ago, Yao religious paintings would have been kept with diligent care beyond the reach of prying eyes; and, until recently, only a few anthropologists had been allowed to see them, d~-ing religious ceremo- nies they were privileged to witness. As indicated above, the sudden appearance of these paintings in antique shops is not an accident, but is largely due to the dire circumstances of the hew life' which the Yao face in revolutionary Laos. However, once relead to art dealers and connoisseurs, a new danger arises: the series risk being dispersed world-wide as individual paintings, with no indication of their provenance and history. It will thus be virtually impossible to date and classify them in the future

https://www.bates.edu/museum/exhibitions/2014-2/art-of-the-shaman-from-vietnam-and-china/

above are 12 of my first acquisitions, reminding me of the Nepalese and Tibetan thangka's. you'll find bookcovers for further studies and an yao shaman exhibition link. Below are more examples , paper shaman masks as well a wooden, shaman implements, making me think of the Newar of Nepal!