The Red Mother With Child

May 4, 2020
This volume from an ongoing series of graphic novels commissioned by the Louvre museum pulls off an action-packed and splendidly drawn narrative, but delivers a muddy message. In 1940 Mali, a priceless African statuette is rescued from European looters. In 2015, the country is occupied again, this time by Muslim hard-liners. Alou, a honey hunter, is tasked with smuggling the statuette out of the country to safety, joining the boatloads of refugees fleeing the region. Meanwhile, at the Louvre, curator Claude cares for an identical statuette and frets about anti-refugee demonstrations. Drawn in delicate inks tinted in blue and sepia tones with rusty highlights on the statue, the book looks gorgeous; Lax draws bustling crowd scenes, National Geographic–worthy shots of African landscapes, and individual, humanized characters. But the premise of a plucky refugee delivering a cultural treasure to a wealthy European institution seems tone-deaf. The book’s pro-refugee message is also well-meaning but limited, with pillaging Arabs and nationalist Parisians cast as cartoon villains while glossing over more genteel forms of exploitation practiced by curators more concerned with art collections than with the welfare of the people and cultures responsible for the art. Not sure if it wants to be a red-blooded adventure comic or a nuanced discussion of global issues, this comic doesn’t entirely succeed at either, though it looks so good readers might forgive it.

May 22, 2020

Gr 9 Up-Alou is a honey hunter in Mali, trying to make a living while dodging the violence of Islamic extremists who harass his community. While coaxing honey from a baobab tree, Alou is attacked, barely escaping with his life. However, in the smoldering remains of the tree, he recovers a 14th-century statuette-the Red Mother with Child. He takes it to his village's spiritual leader, the Hogon, and learns of the sculpture's history. Decades earlier, the Hogon stole the statue from French colonizers who were stripping Mali of its ancient artifacts and sending them to the Louvre in Paris. Ironically, providence led the Hogon to Paris as a student, and he is forced to acknowledge that Africa's artistic heritage can be best preserved with the Louvre's resources. When the Hogon tells Alou he must take the Red Mother with Child to the museum, Alou encounters the harsh realities that refugees all over the world experience every day. In this eye-opening saga of political and religious unrest, Lax never flinches from the dark past of colonialism in Africa. Though acknowledging the Louvre's celebrated reputation, he also addresses the undercurrents of xenophobia and racism woven throughout its history. The artwork is craggy, harsh with angles and edges, but somehow graceful and feathery at the same time; it's a feast for the eyes, with detail in every panel. VERDICT An enjoyable and edifying peek into a facet of African art and heritage, and a solid addition for those interested in learning more about the plight of refugees.-Michael Marie Jacobs, Darlington Sch., GA

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