An interview between Frank Heirmann and David Norden:

How to you become an expert?

"It is like Jazz Music, most don't get a clue, because you must listen to it much and for a long time. You must see thousands of mask before understanding the mystery. The Nordens have been antique dealers for three generations. My mother collected African art and from the age of 6 I went with her to auctions. My father had from time to time African art in his shop on the Lange Leemstraat, but my mother kept the best pieces for herself. My father wasn't really an afro-specialist in the same way as my brother Jacob who took up the family shop specialized in antique music instruments. I too had the African virus and opened a double antique shop on the Sint-Jorispoort in 1992 - one for general antiques and one for tribal art. In 1998, I was able to buy a house in the Sint Katelijnevest and started to specialise more on African masks and statues."

What is the use of Masks?

"Masks are coming from animistic cultures, tribes who don't believe in one single god, but rather try to live in harmony with the ancestors