The Mwana hiti: more than just a doll catalogue and exhi¬bition are the result of study based on a number of pieces from the Belgian private collection of Guibert Hairson. Initiation trunk figures, staffs of high-ranking members of the community, fly whisks made out of a decorated wooden handle, a container for medicinal and magical substances, a memorial post and throne-stool, spoons for the ceremonial preparation and food consumption; as well as more than forty hairpins, combs and hair decora¬tions are brought together by one image — the mwana hiti. The mwana hiti most commonly appears in the form of a wooden figure recognisable for its stylised head and coif¬fure constituted of one or two crests and spherical lateral projections and a "firm", tube-like body with marked pro¬trusions on the level of breasts and navel. Sometimes. as in the example of hairpins or the memorial post, the whole body is fully depicted with clearly defined hands and legs.

The Museum of African Art collections contain objects mainly from the rich heritage of West Africa. A step outside of the principal collection, with the aim of presenting the complex cultural heritage of Africa is achieved through collaborative work between the Museum and those individuals that own valuable and for the museum and academic public, important pieces of material culture from Africa. One such collaboration based on the Hairson collection offered a specific outlook on the royal and daily inventory of the Kuba people of the Kongo (through the Regard sur les Kuba exhibition at the Museum of African Art in Belgrade 2006/2007) and con¬tinues today with a selection of pieces made by the Zaramo and Kwere of Tanzania.

Besides the fact that significant field-work has been conducted and relevant anthropological studies written on East Africa, its peoples and their material cul¬ture. the inwana hiti figure and image are mentioned only sporadically. Africa entered the grand arch of the history of art of the world through sculpture which in time be¬came the synonym for African art. Compared to the rich sculptural production of West and Central Africa, it was taken for granted that sculpture as such does not exist in East Africa owing to a number of reasons, such as. that nomadic, warrior communities had no inclinations for this form of expression, or that the strong impact of Islam in the area dictated the strict use of geometric and abstract forms, prohibiting the representation of the human figure, and also that certain socio-political instabilities had their impact in this field of artistic expression. However, the
angle of observation may have posed a greater problem in the matter because it disregarded the field of art the peoples of this part of Africa felt most comfortable with in the complex process of manifesting and materialising their beliefs. social structures and religious concepts. The shift in outlook opened a whole treasury of oral tradition, music, dance, architecture. but also revealed rare and valuable objects such as clay figures of the people of Tanganyika*, or the mwana hiti figure of the Zaramo and Kwere of eastern Tanzania.

My due thanks for providing not only the collection but also valuable bibliographic units go to the Museum of African Art's now well established associate and friend. the Belgian collector Guibert Hairson. Thanks to him ini¬tial contact was made with Marc Felix art historian and author of one of the most thorough studies of the mwana hiti figure and image as stylistic expression of a group of Tanzanian peoples. It is thanks to his generosity that cer¬tain maps and photographs were reproduced to comple¬ment the exhibition and catalogue for which I hope will be of help to viewers and readers in the process of appreci¬ating the material culture that comes from a different place and now most likely, a very different time.

(*) The old name for the continental territory of the modern United Republic of Tanzania made up of Tanganyika and Zanzibar .

The exhibition catalogue is bilingual (English/Serbian)