Beautiful forms, rich surface textures and sumptuous colors characterize these handbuilt clay vessels from continental Africa. Two artists less familiar to U.S. audiences, António Ole of Angola and Aimé Mpane of Democratic Republic of Congo, bring their subtle and sophisticated manipulation of found and organic materials to create visually rich, multimedia installations that speak to the political and economic challenges of their home countries. At the National Museum of African Art we inspire conversations about the beauty, power, and diversity of African arts and cultures worldwide. features works by 11 visual artists from the earliest days of the Oshogbo school. A group of Ohioans, including four African American men, established Wilberforce University near Xenia, Ohio, in 1856, and named it after the famous British abolitionist, William Wilberforce. Most of all, it reveals the potency of images and ideas to shape the lives of people, communities, and societies. This show brings together methods of visual storytelling and ancestral memory through the individual practices of artists from the “Black Belt” region of the American South—a term that refers to the region’s black soil, as well as the legacies of African … On view at a public institution for the first time, these recently acquired works commemorate the artist’s own experience coming out as gay and eventual self-acceptance. Gifts and Blessings examines the historical context and dynamism of contemporary cloth production through a comprehensive collection of textiles, including silk and cotton wrappers, burial shrouds, marriage cloths, fashions and textile art, and two important cloths given as diplomatic gifts to President Grover Cleveland in 1886 by Malagasy Queen Ranavalona III. Striking Iron features artworks from the Fowler collection as well as American and European public and private collections. South Africa 1936–1949: Photographs by Constance Stuart Larrabee explores Larrabee’s vital and imaginative vision and her ability to capture poignant moments in the history of South Africa. Generous support is also provided by the Fowler Museum’s Martha and Avrum Bluming Exhibition Fund. Drawing from its collection, the museum pays tribute to both the creative genius of their makers and the status and prestige of those who wear them. This exhibition introduces the visual arts of Africa south of the Sahara. Mami Wata: Arts for Water Spirits in Africa and the African Atlantic World was organized and produced by the Fowler Museum at UCLA and guest curated by Dr. Henry Drewal. Rather, they reflect the complex heritage of Africa today and respond to both the historic traditions of their local cultures and the new era of international globalism. Among the most beautiful and creative objects of personal attire worn by African peoples are innumerable types of headwear fabricated from various materials. Artists’ books build on the traditional codex of sequentially bound pages. insights features the work of nine contemporary artists from the museum’s collection. The Fabric of Moroccan Life is organized by the Indianapolis Museum of Art and is under the high patronage of His Majesty Mohammed VI, King of Morocco. From exquisitely created dolls and stools to awe-inspiring masks and power figures, the objects in this exhibition represent traditions that may predate the arrival of the Portuguese in Africa. The exhibition and national tour are organized by the Museum for African Art in New York and sponsored by Merrill Lynch. Through the works of artist Bruce Onobrakpeya, it also offers a contemporary elucidation of the meaning and iconography of the central themes of Urhobo art. It was made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, promoting excellence in the humanities. Striking Iron: The Art of African Blacksmiths is organized by the Fowler Museum at UCLA. Women’s Initiative at the National Museum of African Art, Johnnetta Betsch Cole Fund for the Future, Good As Gold: Fashioning Senegalese Women, Striking Iron: The Art of African Blacksmiths, African Mosaic: Selections from the Permanent Collection, World on the Horizon: Swahili Arts Across the Indian Ocean, Senses of Time: Video and Film-based Works of Africa, Walt Disney–Tishman African Art Collection Highlights. Sokari Douglas Camp (b. Organized by the Museum for African Art, New York, in cooperation with Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture at the College of Charleston, McKissick Museum at the University of South Carolina and the Sweetgrass Cultural Arts Festival Association. Works from different regions and time periods come together in this exhibition to reveal the movement of artistic forms, motifs, and preferences, and to reflect the changing meanings they may carry during the course of their life histories. This exhibition contains a variety of objects that have been used across Africa to facilitate trade and measure wealth. View past exhibitions. Drawing subject matter from billboard advertisements and popular media of 1950s Cairo, the artist creates nostalgic, whimsical, and at times, satirical commentaries on the strength of the visual in public culture. This exhibition is a collaboration between the National Museum of African Art and the Anacostia Museum and Center for African American History and Culture. The exhibition focuses on the history and use of kente in Africa and explores contemporary kente and its manifestations. The collection has been instrumental in defining the field of African art history in the United States and abroad. This exhibition celebrates the creativity of African artists who have made utilitarian objects of great beauty. These artworks, dating from between the 15th and 20th centuries, range from small personal objects (containers, jewelry) to large public objects (carved tusks, staffs). The 64 paintings, drawings, prints, wood sculptures and mixed-media works on view were created by seven Nigerian artists who studied or taught in the Department of Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Upcoming exhibitions These images have become timeless works of art. This exhibition is supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and by an indemnity African-American art is a broad term describing visual art created by Americans who also identify as Black. View frequently changing exhibitions drawn from the Harn’s collections of more than 10,000 works of art, and loans from both private lenders, artists, and other art museums. The exhibition will be on view at the UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History Oct. 14, 2007, to Feb. 17, 2008. Be among the first to see versatile multimedia artist Jim Chuchu’s deeply personal and visually mesmerizing suite of video projections, Invocation: The Severance of Ties (2015) and Invocation: Release (2015)! All public programs are online only, on-site public tours and events are currently suspended. Visions from the Forests: The Art of Liberia and Sierra Leone is organized by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Chief S.O. The exhibition was organized by the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University and the Fowler Museum at UCLA. African art has a long history of study and appreciation at Yale University. While these works of art date to the 19th and 20th centuries, their history is linked to that of the West African empires that rose to power more than 1000 years. The exhibition has been made possible through the generous support of BP in Angola. As a public health precaution due to COVID-19, all Smithsonian museums are closed temporarily. Copyright © 2021 Smithsonian National Museum of African Art. Through exhibitions and programming, MoCADA incites dialogue on pressing social and political issues facing the African Diaspora and … January 6, 2020 — June 30, 2021 Special Exhibition The Nature of Color Explore what color tells us about the natural world–and ourselves. Objects of varying size are juxtaposed to demonstrate concepts and challenge perceptions. This exhibition will showcase works of art that represent the curator’s choice and will rotate a myriad of objects from different cultures. The exhibition moves through focused suites of work, following Mitchell's cyclical way of working, in which subjects and gestures appear and … In some instances they were active participants, ”performing” for the cameras and developing strategies to meet the photographers’ demands. The exhibition is the centerpiece of a yearlong celebration marking the museum’s 25th anniversary since becoming part of the Smithsonian Institution in 1979. African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era, and Beyond presents a selection of paintings, sculpture, prints, and photographs by forty-three black artists who explored the African American experience from the Harlem Renaissance through the Civil Rights era and the decades beyond, which saw tremendous social and political changes. This cluster begins by focusing on the more than 5,000 African Americans (free, enslaved, and indentured) who served in the colonial forces. Accompanying the installation of the large openwork concrete screens by Adebisi Akanji is a discussion of the museum’s conservation treatment. Sculpted artworks, including masks, pots, costumes, and musical instruments, represent elements of divination and initiation ceremonies, bestow power on their owners, and serve as altars to mediate between humans and the divine. Central Nigeria Unmasked: Arts of the Benue River Valley presents a comprehensive view of the arts produced in the region and includes some of the most abstract, dramatic and inventive sculpture from sub-Saharan Africa. Lalla Essaydi’s elegant, creative work belies it subversive, challenging nature. Numerous exhibitions at the Museum for African Art in New York and the African Pavilion at the 2007 Venice Biennale, which showcased the Sindika Dokolo African Collection of Contemporary Art, have gone a long way to countering many of the myths and prejudices that haunt Contemporary African Art. View. The extraordinary costumes and textiles of the African continent—from ensembles to wrappers to wall hangings to chain mail and accessories/hats—featured in an exhibition drawn from the National Museum of African Art’s collection, present a wide array of Africa’s textile arts that have seldom or never been on exhibit. He does so with images that map his personal geography: scenes from a dance performance he filmed at a restaurant in Bali, footage from visits to New York City and Ethiopia, and even a cameo appearance by a box of Kellogg’s corn flakes. Approximately 80 works, dating from ancient to modern times, represent the ingenuity and creativity of African artists who incorporate script and graphic forms of communication into a wide range of artworks, including everyday and ritual objects, religious painting, talismans, leadership arts, popular arts and photography. To view the status of the Smithsonian’s other museums and zoo visit si.edu/museums.The Freer and Sackler are not announcing a re-opening date at this time and will provide updates on a regular and as needed basis.Please read our full … Robert McNeill, Richmond Barthé, and Benny Andrews speak to the dignity and resilience of people who work the land. In the cities of the West African nation of Senegal, stylish women have often used jewelry as part of an overall strategy of exhibiting their elegance and prestige. Curated by the internationally acclaimed writer and art critic Simon Njami, this dramatic multi-media exhibition reveals the ongoing global relevance of Dante Alighieri’s 14th century epic as part of a shared intellectual heritage. A listening station provides sample recordings of music made by instruments similar to those on display. This exhibition showcases selections from Dalí’s most ambitious illustrated series: his colored wood engravings of the Divine Comedy, an epic poem by the medieval Florentine writer Dante Alighieri. The Expressionists’ interest in non-Western art intensified after a 1910 Gauguin exhibition in Dresden, while modernist movements in Italy, England, and the United States initially engaged with African art through contacts with School of Paris artists. Anatsui indicates that the word gawu (derived from Ewe, his native language) has several potential meanings, including “metal” and “a fashioned cloak.” The term therefore manages to encapsulate the medium, process and format of the works on view, reflecting the artist’s transformation of discarded materials into objects of striking beauty and originality. The curatorial team is led by artist Tom Joyce, a MacArthur Fellow originally trained as a blacksmith, with co-curators Allen F. Roberts, UCLA Professor of World Arts and Cultures/Dance; Marla C. Berns, Shirley & Ralph Shapiro Director, Fowler Museum; William J. Dewey, Director, African Studies Program and Associate Professor of African Art History at Pennsylvania State University; and Henry J. Drewal, Evjue-Bascom Professor of Art History and Afro-American Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. In diverse ways, they celebrate the marriage of aesthetic form and literal meaning, play with the ambiguity of text and help us to consider the active role of the viewer in the “translation” process of “reading” visual images. The artwork on exhibit reflects the collection’s strength in contemporary South African art. He began collecting seriously in 1965 and amassed a premier collection of art from Gabon with strong representation from the Congo region. Throughout his career Ghanaian artist El Anatsui has experimented with a variety of media, including wood, ceramics and paint. We invite you to see how children in Africa learn through playful inventiveness and creativity. His unique style of carving attracted the notice of Ekiti-Yoruba kings who commissioned him to sculpt doors and veranda posts for their palaces. It is the animal’s conduct and distinct behaviors that carry the messages in performances, stories and proverbs. Organized by the Krannert Art Museum, World on the Horizon has been made possible in part by major grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities. One of the world’s preeminent private collections of African American art will have its first public viewing later this year at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art. African American Museum (14) African Art Museum (8) Air and Space Museum (13) Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center (19) American Art Museum (14) American History Museum (44) American Indian Museum (9) American Indian Museum Heye Center (5) Anacostia Community Museum (1) Archives of American Art ; Arts and … March 9, 2020 — August 8, 2021 … The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery remain temporarily closed. The Conservation Initiative in African Art, funded by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, is a dynamic curator-conservator partnership bringing together technical analysis, curatorial research, and specialist consultants to discover methods of assembly, applied and embedded materials, and modifications with use. The works employ text and graphic symbols to tell stories about memory, identity and the power of language. Aesthetic, thematic, technical, and historic concerns have been considered in selecting the works of art, which are arranged according to geographic and cultural regions. In the Presence of Spirits was organized by the Museum for African Art, New York, in cooperation with the National Museum of Ethnology, Portuguese Institute of Museums, Ministry of Culture, Lisbon, Portugal. Viewed together, these works highlight the dynamic nature of cultural exchange while they present the personal expressions of African artists. In Brave New World II Theo Eshetu explores such universal tensions as the relationship between nature and technology and the idea of life as a spectacle. Current Exhibition. Major funding for Striking Iron comes from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts. One such artist, Pierre Legrain (1889–1929), designed furniture for collector Jacques Doucet and came to be recognized for his “negro” furniture. A New York native, he has lived in South Africa for more than thirty years. Approximately 30 works of diverse media are drawn from each of her photographic series, including the richly hued Silence of Thought and the more widely known Converging Territories and Les Femmes de Maroc. During the early 1960s, a major artistic transformation occurred in Oshogbo, a Yoruba town in western Nigeria. The presentation includes 73 traditional masks and wooden sculptures—masterpieces from the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art’s collection and special loans from private collections throughout the United States—many of which have never been exhibited publicly in this country. The artists work in styles as varied as documentary realism, abstraction, and postmodern assemblage of found objects to address a diverse array of subjects. A New View of African Art; Ongoing The Deering Family Galleries of Medieval and Renaissance Art, Arms, and Armor; Ongoing Of Gods and Glamour: The Mary and Michael Jaharis Galleries of Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Art; Page secondary navigation. Although cowrie shells, aggrey beads, ivory and cloth have served historically as currency, metals have also been used from the earliest times. Resonance from the Past consists of a selection of the finest works of African sculpture from the New Orleans Museum of Art. These 19th- and 20th-century vessels that evoke both human and geometric forms were used for domestic and ritual purposes. Here visual, literary and performance artists drew on traditional ideas to create new forms. The 67 objects on display include rugs, textiles and jewelry. The interplay of word, image and space creates visual poetry in these contemporary installations. Treasures 2008 highlights the extraordinary creativity of African artists and what the original owners or caretakers in Africa deemed worthwhile. Explore Artsy's comprehensive listing of current gallery shows and museum exhibitions from around the world. Located at the crossroads of Africa and the Indian Ocean, the Swahili coast has been a vibrant arena of global cultural convergence for over one millennium. Music is an integral element of African life. The exhibition includes over 225 artworks from across the African continent focusing on the region south of the Sahara and covering a time period spanning early archaeological evidence to the present day. While exploring the complexities, diversity and vibrancy of the artistic practices among artists of Ethiopian descent, Ethiopian Passages: Dialogues in the Diaspora brings together 10 artists, from across several generations, who have addressed issues of identity, experienced displacement and created new “homelands.” Their artworks span the media—from paintings, mixed media, photography and digital prints to ceramic and papier mâché sculptures, murals and on-site installations. Her aesthetic eye is apparent in the exquisite black-and-white images that document the lives of African peoples in both rural and urban settings. The exhibition is accompanied by an illustrated catalogue, written by distinguished scholar Richard J. Powell, the John Spencer Bassett Professor of Art and Art History at Duke University with contributions by chief curator Virginia Mecklenburg; Theresa Slowik, the museum’s chief of publications; and Maricia Battle, curator in the prints and drawings division at the Library of Congress. He collaborated with musician and sound designer Keir Fraser to produce the video’s seductive and meditative soundtrack. Through an African Lens: Sub-Saharan Photography from the Museum’s Collection (February 27–November 8, 2020) Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power (June 27–August 30, 2020) Proof of Concept: Artistic Process in Contemporary Printmaking, Selections from the Museum’s Collection (January 9–August 23, 2020) ... Blackburn was an African American artist born to Jamaican immigrants in 1920 and raised in Harlem, New York. The Igbo and Urhobo peoples of Nigeria carve wooden figures that represent tutelary deities and ancestors. Numbers only. When the school failed to meet its financial obligations, leaders of the African Methodist Episcopal Church purchased it in 1863. the African Presence in Renaissance Europe, held at the Walters Art Museum from October 14, 2012, to January 21, 2013, and at the Princeton University Art Museum from February 16 to June 9, 2013. A site-specific commission by the museum, Market Symphony draws on the commercial cries and urban ambiance of Balogun, a sprawling open-air market in Lagos, Africa’s largest and most populated city. The political realignment of black voters that began at the close of Reconstruction gradually accelerated in the early 20th century, pushed by demographic shifts such as the Great Migration and by black discontent with the increasingly conservative racial policies of the Republican Party in the South. African objects that came into Paris from the French colonies in the 1890s inspired European artists who sought to find new patterns and forms to incorporate into their work in the early 1900s. Mickalene Thomas, Portrait of Mnonja, 2010, rhinestones, acrylic, and enamel on wood panel, Smithsonian American Art Museum SAAM is home to one of the most significant collections of African American art in the world, with more than 2,000 works by more than 200 African American artists. The National Museum of African Art plays a major role in the collection of contemporary African art in the United States. The 14-minute film documents the head shaving of new recruits at the Third South African Infantry Battalion (3SAI) in Kimberley, one of two South African military training camps that still perform the obligatory hair shaving of army recruits joining the South African National Defence Force. Far from abstract, African ideas about the universe are intensely personal and place human beings in relationships with the earth, sky, and celestial bodies. Now–May 9, 2021. For 30 years, Xavier Guerrand-Hermès of the renowned Paris-based fashion empire collected both stunning North African jewelry and historic late 19th- and early 20th-century photographs by some of the region’s most prominent photographers. By displaying ensembles rather than individual works, the exhibition reveals the artistic process and the play of experimentation, continuity and change in each artist’s chosen subjects and materials. African American Heritage and Ethnography (National Park Service) African American Newspapers, 1850 - 1963 from the Chronicling America Collection (Library of Congress) African American Odyssey: A Quest for Full Citizenship Exhibition (Library of Congress) African Immigrant Folklife (Smithsonian Institution) The National Museum of African Art remains temporarily closed. Cloth is considered the ultimate gift and plays a vital role in the social and economic lives of women and men in Madagascar. The photographs on view are from the extensive holdings of the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at the National Museum of African Art. The museum is grateful to the Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco. These artists embrace many universal themes and also evoke specific aspects of the African American experience—the African Diaspora, jazz, and the persistent power of religion. This exhibition explores the visual cultures and histories of Mami Wata, examining the world of water deities and their seductive powers. Africans also frequented photographic studios and took up photography to demonstrate their modernity. Some 90 works of art are featured in the first major exhibition and publication that explore the historical legacy of African cultural astronomy and the ways that celestial bodies and phenomena, such as rainbows and eclipses, serve as inspiration and symbol in the creation of Africa’s traditional and contemporary arts. For more than two millennia, ironworking has shaped African cultures in the most fundamental ways. From rock art to contemporary painting, audiences will discover animals used as symbols of royal arts, in masquerades for the ancestors and others rarely seen. The exhibition was organized and circulated by the Ackland Art Museum, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The programming project has been supported by the Smithsonian School Programming Fund. Most recently, he has focused upon discarded metal objects, hundreds or even thousands of which are joined together to create truly remarkable works of art. Works on display in eleven galleries include paintings, drawings, ceramics, sculpture, photography, video, beadwork, textiles and more. Alonge: Photographer to the Royal Court of Benin, Nigeria opened Sept. 17. Works from private collections compose nearly 75 percent of the exhibition (many works from the museum’s collection are gifts from individuals). All 100 artworks in the exhibition are drawn entirely from the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s rich collection of African American art. Foundation in Atlanta supports the museum's traveling exhibition program, Treasures to Go. Ethiopian Icons World on the Horizon explores Swahili arts as objects of mobility, outcomes of encounter, and as products of trade and imperialism. African Mosaic: Selections from the Permanent Collection showcases museum purchases and gifts and provides a glimpse into the collecting opportunities and decisions that exist for art museums. Similarities of style as well as diversity of expression emerge from a shared African heritage. Approximately 250 works—from private collections as well as national and international public collections—feature a range of artistic genres and media dating from the 19th century to the present. Playful Performers is especially for children, their friends and the playful at heart. Six internationally recognized African artists examine how time is experienced—and produced—by the body. Themes include notions of nurturing, power, wisdom, transformation, beauty and aggression. Artists’ Books and Africa is the first exhibition to focus on African artists books from the Smithsonian Libraries’ Warren M. Robbins Library and the National Museum of African Art. An aesthetic conversation has recently developed between African and African American artists as they work from different perspectives to reconcile their African identity and heritage within the currents of contemporary art. Each partner site will feature a host of multidisciplinary activities. The exhibition is organized by Virginia Mecklenburg, chief curator. The C.F. Textiles are powerful communicators of status, gender and accomplishments in Africa. For centuries, peoples from the Arabian Peninsula, Asia, Africa, and Europe have journeyed across the Indian Ocean in many directions. Exhibited works encompass the last 12 years of Shonibare’s career with a focus on recent works juxtaposed with historical works. The Rise and Impact of Chicano Graphics, 1965 to Now, Forces of Nature: Renwick Invitational 2020, Alexander von Humboldt and the United States: Art, Nature, and Culture, Connections: Contemporary Craft at the Renwick Gallery, Using the Nam June Paik Archive - Access and Hours, Highlights from the Nam June Paik Archive, Online Resources for Researching Nam June Paik, Publication Requests for the Nam June Paik Archive. This exhibition focuses on the icon, an art form associated with the Ethiopian Orthodox church. The exhibition, which opens at the museum Nov. 9 and remains on view through early 2016, is a major part of the museum’s 50th anniversary, celebrating its unique history and contributions toward furthering meaningful dialogue between Africa and the African diaspora. Time may seem easy to measure, but it can be challenging to understand. The exhibition was organized by the UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, Los Angeles, and the Newark Museum, Newark, N.J. Giant-Screen Film Volcanoes: The Fires of Creation The story of volcanoes is the story of planet Earth’s creation—see it in daily screenings of this 2D film. In 1984, on the death of her father, she created Church Ede, a monumental kinetic sculpture reminiscent of a Kalabari funeral bed, as a tribute to her father. Treasures 2008 showcases sculpture made of ivory—a material highly valued universally. Support for this exhibition was generously provided by Sidney and Kathryn Taurel, Joseph’s Oriental Rug Imports and Royal Air Maroc. African Art Now: Masterpieces from the Jean Pigozzi Collection profiles 28 artists from 15 African countries, all of whom came of age in Africa and maintain close ties to their native countries.