Bermuda will soon have its very own African art collection.

The Bermuda National Gallery is purchasing, through public donation, part of the New York Perls Collection, most of which was assembled during the 1940s and '50s.

Although most of the purchase money has now been raised, the Gallery is still looking for donors to secure some "important'' additional pieces.

A September opening is planned for the latest African art show, at which a total of about 40 pieces will be displayed.

Dusty Hind, a long-time collector of African art and the person credited with the idea of bringing the first, hugely successful "Secrecy'' exhibition to the Island, says he heard about the Perls collection from a dealer friend in New York.

"The policy of the National Gallery was not to form a `national' collection but we decided to re-consider that decision because African art really seems to have caught the imagination of the community,'' he explains.

"While I was in New York choosing pieces for `The Power and the Glory' show, I was able to have a good look at what was being offered and, out of that collection, I selected about 20 pieces that seemed to me to represent a nice pan-African core collection, including masks and figures.'' In addition, nine more "wonderful'' objects which have been on display at the High Museum in Atlanta, have also been anonymously donated to Bermuda's permanent collection, and a further dozen or so pieces, loaned by various people, will also be in the September show.

The Gallery is especially pleased that by far the main bulk of the donations have come from individuals, families, approximately 15 schools and various groups, rather than from corporate patrons.

"The donations have come from right across the racial board,'' says Mr. Hind, noting that schools have been amongst the most enthusiastic fund-raisers, holding bake sales and "grub days'' and turning over the proceeds to the appeal.

Mrs. Polly Nooter Roberts, curator of the original "Secrecy'' exhibit in New York, has not only made a personal donation to the campaign, but she and her husband have also offered to write the catalogue for the Bermuda collection.

In addition, Kiwi Airlines, through the generosity of manager Graeme Seaton, has flown the huge shipment down from New York, free of charge.

"There are some wonderful pieces in the collection,'' says Mr. Hind. "Of course, they are not really old -- if they were, they would certainly be out of our league. Nevertheless, there is some beautiful work, including the `Bwa' butterfly mask, a huge piece from Mali. It's about 50 years old and was worn at ceremonies marking the beginning of the planting season. When the rains came, these little chrysales mature all over the land into butterflies -- so this is `the mother of all butterflies'! Also,'' he continues, "there is a large, very grand chief's figure from Cameroon holding a bowl carved with lizards and elephants and used for holding kola nuts which people used to chew -- and had a mild narcotic effect.'' Another very striking piece is the carved Dogon door, inspired by small African granary doors.

"This is not actually part of the Perls collection, but we have shown in previous shows, how the culture, iconography and symbolism can deteriorate to attract the almighty tourist dollar. Now, although that door was made for sale to tourists, I think everyone would agree that the iconography is still intact in this case -- the integrity of the imagery has been sustained, and the workmanship is quite wonderful.'' The pieces selected represent many areas of the African continent, including Nigeria, Cameroon, Liberia, Mali, Ivory Coast, Zaire and Angola.