21 - Sikiri Kambire (1896–1963), Attributed to

Sikiri Kambire (1896–1963), Attributed to Statue masculine Lobi, Burkina Faso Wood, wood scraps H. 80 cm Height with base: 90 cm With a singular and profoundly hieratic presence, this significant Lobi male figure stands out for the elegance of its slender silhouette and the extreme economy of its formal language. The body, rendered in understated and powerfully elongated volumes, is animated by a subtle succession of curves and counter-curves. The narrow shoulders extend from a torso with gently modeled volumes, while the arms, held close to the torso, accentuate the verticality of the whole. The tension between the slenderness of the limbs, the solidity of the torso, and the elongation of the neck lends the work a magnetic presence—a poise that is both serene and commanding. The slightly bent legs introduce a nuance that skillfully suggests a contrast between the suppleness of a restrained dynamic and the frozen posture of the upper body. The deliberately stripped-down treatment of the body thus allows the silhouette and the face to speak with full force, in an aesthetic where the reduction of detail becomes a true instrument of expression. The facial features and the overall composition allow this work to be attributed to one of the most famous Lobi sculptors of the 20th century. Born in Gongombili in 1896 and based in Gaoua in the 1920s, Kambiré developed a personal artistic language that exerted a considerable influence on several generations of sculptors in the region. Daniela Bognolo describes him, in particular, as the founder of a distinct stylistic school, the transmission of which relied on apprenticeship under the master and on careful observation of his formal characteristics. Provenance - Piet Blanckaert, Belgium - Jan Calmeyn Collection, Belgium Littérature Further Reading Piet Meyer, Kunst und Religion der Lobi, Zurich, Museum Rietberg, 1981 Daniela Bognolo, “Djetó! Be Careful!: The ‘Path of Sculpture’ Among the Lobi of Burkina Faso,” in Journal des Africanistes, 67-1, 1997, pp. 123–133 Thomas Keller, *Lobi Statuary – Sikiré Kambiré*, Lully, 2015