Africa-Press – Angola. The Angolan State auctioned, on Monday, in Lisbon, 36 of the 38 national ethnographic pieces from various regions of the country put up for auction by Cabral Moncada Leilões.
The pieces, which were part of the private art collection of Portuguese Elísio Romariz dos Santos Silva, were auctioned by the heirs of the aforementioned private collector who lived in Angola for several years.
According to a press release from the Angolan Embassy in Portugal the recovery of the 36 pieces will enrich the Angolan cultural collection, whilst also safeguarding the national heritage.
The commitment of the Embassy of Angola in Portugal to recover the largest number of pieces from this collection is part of the national effort so that future generations have direct contact with national crafts made in the 50s, 60s and 70s and thus reinforce their cultural roots.
According to the diplomatic representation, one of the two pieces that was not won by Angola due to the high bidding price (110 thousand euros) is a “Mwana Pó” mask, which appears in the printed notes distributed to bidders as “The Tribal Sculpture of the Bantu Peoples ”.
According to official data, it was at the Dundo Museum where Elísio Romariz dos Santos Silva established the contacts that allowed him to deepen his interest in Angolan culture, having participated in the creation of the Lobito Ethnography Museum.
The auction was promoted by Cabral Moncada Leilões and also included pieces from Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Liberia, South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
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