Nils Hebo
Nils Hebo is the artist and originator of the Library of the Year challenge trophy, ”Konstruerat huvud” (‘Constructivist Head'). A certain degree of African inspiration went into the creation of the sculpture, which Nils Hebo himself calls “my rusty old man”, and which can presently be found at the Nordic Africa Institute’s library.
Nils Hebo, the artist and originator of the Library of the Year challenge trophy, ”Konstruerat huvud” (‘Constructivist Head'). Photo: Gunilla Hester-Hebo
In September, the Nordic Africa Institute Library was appointed Library of the Year 2006. On this occasion, the library received the challenge trophy, a sculpture called ”Konstruerat huvud” (‘Constructivist Head’). The library decided to find out more about the man behind the sculpture, Nils Hebo, and set up an interview with him. This is a summary of that interview. The complete version is available in Swedish.
Self-taught sculptor, 74 year-old Nils Hebo, has been involved in art all his life. He works both in sheet metal and in wood. In the early days, he produced portraits and paintings. He sculpted his “Old Man” in 1987. In 1988, Björn Lindvall from the Eskilstuna Public Library arrived in search of a challenge trophy and quickly decided on the ‘Head’.
The idea for the sculpture came to Nils Hebo after a visit to Harry Rosenberg's Hafenbasar in Hamburg, where he saw many African objects, sculptures and masks. These impressions influenced the conception of “Konstruerat huvud”. Tristan Tzara, the Romanian writer associated with the Dada movement, also inspired Hebo. By haphazardly piecing together newspaper fragments, Tzara created simultaneous poetry. Nils Hebo peered into a scrap container and spotted some pieces of sheet metal lying at the bottom. He picked them out and assembled them to form a sculpture. The sculptor used cut metal pieces, however, when making “Konstruerat huvud”. The name is derived from the artist Naum Gabo. Picasso also influenced Nils Hebo since masks and sculptures too inspired him during his African period. Nils Hebo intended the mask to have directness, a childlike quality, which is pleasing.
Nils Hebo has never been to Africa. The closest he has come is Lanzarote, which is situated outside the coast of Africa. He would nevertheless be pleased if the sculpture had an African name. The Nordic Africa Institute suggested ’kichwa’, which means ‘head’ in Swahili. Nils Hebo pointed out that what is concerned here is a constructed, complete head. He makes reference to Marcel Duchamp, who worked with so-called ’ready mades’ – everyday objects taken out of context and presented in an artistic setting. We arranged to have the composition of the name checked by a person proficient in Swahili, who was of the opinion that ‘kitayari’ (the prefix ki + tayari) is the correct term for ‘completed, finished head’. Nils Hebo agreed on "Kitayari" as the new African name for the sculpture in an email on 17 November 2006.
Nils Hebo finds it exciting to see whereabouts in the country his rusty old man ends up each year. This time it is in Uppsala, at the Nordic Africa Institute’s library, where it can be seen until September 2007.
The interview took place on 2006-11-09 and was conducted by Åsa Lund Moberg. The summary was translated by Linda Linnarsson. For the entire interview, see the Swedish version.
For African art in Hamburg, visit Harrys Hamburger Hafenbasar (In German)