Rebecca Green returns to Madagascar via Fulbrights

Rebecca L. Green, art history, has been awarded Fulbright-Hays and Fulbright awards to continue her study of the ancestral and contemporary arts of Madagascar, the fourth largest and one of the most exotic islands in the world.

Green leaves July 6 for the island, which is located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern shores of Africa.

While many scientists have studied Madagascar’s unique plants and animals, Green is thought to be the first—and possibly only—art historian to study the artwork of the island’s people.

She previously lived among the Malagasy, learning about their weaving, performance art, music, dance, art, and architecture, which incorporate painting and sculpture, and ancestral traditions. Her earlier two years of research resulted in an exhibition and book which described the daily life, customs and beliefs of the Merina and Betsileo peoples, two of the island’s eighteen officially recognized ethnic groups.

The two groups live in the central highlands of the former French colony and, although Christian, they hold older Malagasy beliefs that ancestors can influence daily life. They believe ancestors can cause misfortune if they are dissatisfied or good fortune if they are happy—so caring for ancestors is viewed as quite important. That care involves periodically replacing deteriorating woven burial shrouds, refurbishing family tombs and reburying family members during celebratory festivals.

These performances, Green says, are considered an important part of creating the Malagasy identity. Malagasy people tend to be very post-modern and very reflective. “They say, ‘doing this is what makes us Malagasy.’ It’s a performance of identity that includes political theatre, speech-making, and dancing, as well as fashion, architecture, sculpture, painting, textiles, and gift-giving.”

“And divination is an integral part of ancestral arts. This is powerful stuff,” the art historian says.

While her previous research examined materials specifically used in ceremonies honoring the dead, she will now also study the influence of ancestral practices on contemporary artists.“Madagascar is one of the poorest nations in the world and to study art is a luxury. It is only in the last five years that contemporary art has blossomed. I therefore want to update my research on traditional ancestral arts and look at how traditional and contemporary artists are negotiating, manipulating, projecting, and creating identity through their art. I am interested in how contemporary artists are now using some of the traditional materials and techniques in new ways,” Green said. “Textile arts are particularly strong in Madagascar, with fiber arts and contemporary fashion design on the forefront. The dynamic of using ancestral materials—such as silk normally reserved for burial shrouds—in new, non-ancestral ways, and introducing new materials—such as polyester or rayon—into ancestral ceremonies results in a vibrant artistic and cultural expression.

She will particularly examine the work of eight contemporary artists that, she notes, create textiles arts made using ancestral techniques, such as wrapping, to incorporate cinnamon, cloves, computer chips, found objects, and others items to express a specific Malagasy identity.

With the support of the two federal grants, Green will interview traditional and contemporary artists, talk with specialists on tradition, attend ancestral ceremonies and visit galleries, museums and artists’ studios.

With the help of the Fulbright-Hays grant, the BGSU professor will spend the summer in the countryside of highland Madagascar, then after the ceremonial season ends in late September, will continue her research in the nation’s capital of Antananarivo until December. She will return to the United States early next year to write and continue her research, will teach a BGSU workshop in Ghana in May 2004, then head back to Madagascar with the Fulbright Award from June to August 2004. She plans to write a book based on her findings.

The Fulbright-Hays Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education and provides grants to fund faculty research abroad, whereas the Fulbright Program is sponsored by the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs in the U.S. Department of State with assistance from the Council for International Exchange of Scholars. As a U.S. representative in Madagascar, Green will further the program’s aims, which is to increase mutual understanding between nations.

Green earned her bachelor’s degree in art history from the University of California-Santa Barbara and holds master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Indiana. She became interested in studying African art as an undergraduate while preparing for a visit with her sister and brother-in-law, who were serving as Peace Corps volunteers in Ghana.

Since joining BGSU’s School of Art faculty in 1996, she has continued to visit the African continent and Madagascar on a regular basis. She also has assisted in developing exhibitions in the United States of fiber works from Madagascar.