Press Preview: Thursday, June 6, 1996, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1071 Fifth Avenue, New York City There will be remarks beginning at 11:30 a.m.Africa: The Art of a Continent, the first major survey of the artistic traditions of the entire African continent, will be on view at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum from June 7 through September 29.
More than 500 works of art assembled from major collections throughout the world will be included in the exhibition. The objects, the earliest of which is more than 1.6 million years old, will fill almost the entire museum and are organized into seven ge ographically based sections: Egypt and Nubia, eastern Africa, southern Africa, central Africa, Sahel and Savanna, northern Africa, and western Africa. Africa: The Art of a Continent is organized by the Royal Academy of Arts, London, in association with t he Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Tom Phillips is the exhibition curator, and the coordinator for the Guggenheim is Jay Levenson, Deputy Director for Program Administration. Professors Kwame Anthony Appiah, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Cornel West of the Department of Afro-American Studies, Harvard University, are special consultants for the show. The Guggenheim's advisory committee for the exhibition is comprised of Michael Kan (Chair) of the Detroit Institute of Arts; Professor Roy Sieber of Indiana Un iversity; Professor Ekpo Eyo of the University of Maryland; Frank Herreman of the Museum for African Art, New York; Dr. Edna Russman; Dominique Malaquais; and Professor Peter Mark of Wesleyan University. In/sight: African Photographers, 1940 to the Presen t and Lights on Africa: A Program of African Film will also be on view.
This exhibition was organized by the Royal Academy of Arts, London, in association with the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.
This exhibition and its related programming are made possible by generous grants from Time Warner and Warner Bros.
Major continuing support and international air transportation are provided by Lufthansa.
Significant funding has been provided by Hugo Boss as part of its long-term partnership with the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.
Additional funding has been provided by American Express Company and also by UNESCO, in celebration of its fiftieth anniversary.
Thomas Krens, Director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, states, "It is a privilege for the Guggenheim to present this remarkable survey of the visual arts in Africa. For the first time ever on this scale, the museum is presenting works from all p arts of a continent, celebrating one of the world's great artistic traditions."
"Including the arts of northwestern Africa and Egypt in an exhibition dedicated to the continent as a whole is for me a triumph of truth and common sense," comments Professor Eyo. "This unprecedented show will, I hope, encourage necessary changes in the way that people look at the African continent, its history, and its arts."
EXHIBITION OVERVIEW AND DESIGN
With the assistance of the advisory committee, this exhibition has been adapted for optimum presentation in the Frank Lloyd Wright building. Although the show has been modified in overall size, the Guggenheim has added more than 100 objects from American public and private collections not exhibited in the previous venues in order to highlight the extraordinary quality of African art holdings in the United States.
This exhibition was designed collaboratively by Adegboyega Adefope and W. Rod Faulds. Incorporating the exhibition's premise of presenting the objects primarily as sculptural, they formulated a design that not only provides ample horizontal surfaces for the pieces, but one that also attempts to harmonize with the curvilinear and angled architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright while introducing elements that gently contrast or create a tension with the existing architecture.
The exhibition begins with a display of artistic invention from predynastic Egypt, including the remarkable 5,000-year-old Battlefield Palette. On one side, it depicts the turmoil of war; on the other, an idyllic nature scene. Statuary from the Old, Midd le, and New Kingdoms, as well as from the Late Period, document Ancient Egypt's three-thousand-year history.
Highlights include portrayals of rulers, such as King Pepy I, and figures of deities, including two unusual wooden statues of protective demons. Many of the works exhibited in this section, such as gold and lapis lazuli jewelry, were intended for the per sonal use of the elite; others, such as the wrappings of mummified cats, were tomb objects, never meant to be seen after they were created.
Nubia, to the south of Egypt and its principal link to the rest of Africa, has a complicated history that is less well understood. The individuality and refinement of its art can be seen in an extraordinary sculpted head from the Kingdom of Meroâ ( 2nd-3rd century B.C.) and the impressive granite figure of King Senkamenisken (643-623 B.C.).
This region, whose artistic output has rarely received the attention it deserves, encompasses a wide range of cultures, which were born of the migration and mixing of peoples, political systems, and religious beliefs. Here Christianity and Islam entered the continent and sought new converts. Original art forms developed to celebrate the new faiths. This section includes intricate copper and wooden processional crosses made in Ethiopia as early as the 14th century, as well as an oversized wooden drum tha t once belonged to a powerful Muslim chief in the southern Sudan. Also on display are prestige objects, ranging from elegant thrones to refined items of personal adornment, as well as haunting memorial posts from Kenya and Madagascar. This section also introduces a range of forms and iconography that reappear throughout the exhibition: statuary associated with rulership and funerary rites; figures, masks, and items of apparel relating to an individual's initiation into a new social status; objects of ev eryday use, such as stools and headrests; and musical instruments linked to courtly and religious ritual.
This section, too, focuses on a region whose art is relatively little known outside the area; it includes works from major museums in South Africa that have previously not been seen in international exhibitions. On display are important examples of San r ock art, which represents the longest continuous artistic tradition in Africa, with works ranging from about 25,000 B.C. to the last century. Included is the Linton Panel, the finest movable example of San rock art, which is making an unprecedented journ ey to this country from Cape Town. Two terra cotta heads found at Lydenburg indicate the existence of a highly-developed culture there by 500-700 A.D. A handsome stone bird on display here once graced the impressive architecture of the royal precincts o f Great Zimbabwe, a city that flourished from the 13th to the 15th centuries. Characteristic of the art of this section are marvelous utilitarian works: headrests in many variations, as well as snuff bottles, staffs, wooden vessels, stools, and beaded ga rments, remarkable for their delicacy and elegance of design.
The imposing works in this section include figural types that are among the best-known of African art works. Power figures from Zaire, studded with nails or crowned with horns, functioned in rituals designed to neutralize misfortune and to link the indivi dual with supernatural powers. The many figural works in this section allow comparisons of the ways in which African artists represent the human form: from the abstract (a ceremonial bed carved by a Chokwe craftsman) to the naturalistic (a devotional stat ue of a woman with child from the Kongo kingdom), and from the personal (a Hemba ancestor figure) to the distant and hieratic (a stool carved by a Luba or Luba-related artist). Textile traditions from this region are equally diverse. The Kuba, and peoples with whom they shared historical ties, are renowned for their superb velvetlike raffia textiles, embroidered by women onto cloth woven by men.
Masquerades play a prominent role in Central African societies, as evidenced by a variety of carvings, ranging from the indecorous (a Pende mask of a prostitute) to the gravely serious (Fang masks of the law-enforcing Ngil society).
Between the Sahara desert and the rainforest of the western African coast lie the Sahel (Arabic for "shore," i.e., the shore of the Sahara) and the savanna (treeless or sparsely forested plain). In this section are works from the major art-producing cult ures of Burkina Faso (including a Bwa mask more than eight feet wide) and a rich group of Dogon statuary from present-day Mali, figural works ranging from the fully abstract to the naturalistic.
Also on display in this section are finely-tooled objects crafted in leather, metal, and wood by the Tuareg, a Muslim nomadic people that long controlled the trans-Saharan trade. These works reveal the close ties that link the desert's northern and southe rn shores.
This area of the exhibition focuses on the artistic production of northern Africa, a region that is rarely considered under the rubric of African art, and reflects a commingling of beliefs and styles stemming from diverse cultural and artistic traditions. Central to the identity of this region since the 7th century A.D. are the Islamic religion and its literature and visual arts. The Qur'an, the heart of Muslim life, is represented in the exhibition by a richly decorated example from medieval Malmuk Cai ro, the earliest dated piece of its type, and by a Tuareg Qur'an case designed to be worn as a pendant. Also included in this section are objects that once adorned mosques in this region, such as a gilded glass lamp embellished with Kufic script and geom etric designs.
Impressive terra cotta figures were produced by the Nok civilization, in a region that is today in Nigeria, before the dawn of the Christian era. Contemporary with or shortly earlier than the European Renaissance are both the high elegance of 15th-centur y Ife culture and the beginnings of artistic virtuosity in Benin. Masterpieces were created at Ife in both terra cotta (as in the serene head of a queen, possibly the work of a woman artist) and cast copper alloy (as in the imposing seated figure of a ru ler). Akan women artists in what is today Ghana created near-life-size terra cotta memorial heads and figures to honor deceased chiefs and important elders. In Baule communities of C“te d'Ivoire, sculptors carved figures in wood that represented otherwo rldly companions, who helped humans cope with crises in their spousal relationships. Among the Senufo, massive pairs of figures representing the primordial ancestors serve in initiation ceremonies and accompany the funerary processions of important elder s.
This section includes a varied and impressive selection of masks, ranging form the very large (a swordfish mask of the Bissagos Islands) to the minuscule (a series of Dan maskettes used as protective or curative devices). In many African cultures, masks s erve as teaching tools to illustrate and underscore important social and religious lessons. They often function in initiation ceremonies and sometimes serve to celebrate important members of a community, such as warriors (Kru masks of C“te d'Ivoire) or el derly women (Gelede masks in Yoruba communities).
EXHIBITION PROGRAMMING
Citywide Celebration
The exhibition will serve as the focus of a city-wide celebration of African arts and culture, emphasizing both the visual and performing arts. The Guggenheim is collaborating with numerous cultural institutions in the metropolitan area to encourage visi tors to experience a variety of cultural events involving Africa occurring throughout the summer.
Education and Programming
In conjunction with Africa: The Art of a Continent, the Guggenheim will offer extensive education programs aimed at families, students, educators, and universities throughout the Greater New York area. A curriculum guide for elementary teachers, fact she ets for secondary schools, as well as special educator courses and viewings, will be offered on specific days throughout the exhibition. A Family Activity Guide focusing on selected objects in the exhibition will be distributed free to families for self- guided tours. Afternoons of music, dance, and stories by griots will be held on weekends. Performers include Ethiopian musician Seleshe Damessae, world-renowned master drummer Babatunde Olatunji, Djoniba Dance and Drum, and South African singer Khona, a s well as African artisans demonstrating traditional wood carving, weaving, textile design, and instrument making.
Family performances, tours, and workshops will be offered on scheduled afternoons throughout the exhibition and will include special tours and hands-on drumming and dance workshops. A specially designed interactive touch-screen computer kiosk will provid e an opportunity for children to learn more about the African continent and selected art works from the exhibition. High school students participating in a Student Docent Program, which is geared toward increasing the involvement of African-Americans in the museum field, will lead tours throughout the exhibition.
Lectures and Symposia
A series of lunchtime lectures, offered in June and July in the Peter B. Lewis Theater of the Sackler Center for Arts Education, will provide in-depth explorations of each section of the exhibition by specialists in the field.
Across the Sahara: Africa North and South, a two-day scholarly symposium focusing on cultural relations that have linked the different parts of the African continent throughout history, will be held in the Peter B. Lewis Theater of the Sackler Center for Arts Education and the Museum for African Art on Saturday, September 7, and Sunday, September 8, respectively, and is free with museum admission.
The inaugural Peter B. Lewis Critical Issues Forum, which will take place on Friday, September 20, and Saturday, September 21, will involve two lecture/discussions featuring Cornel West, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Kwame Anthony Appiah, and other distinguishe d scholars. The forum will probe the cultural and political forces reshaping Africa. The fee for both sessions is $15 for adults, $10 for seniors and students (free for members). For information and reservations, call 212/423-3587.
Public Programs
The Guggenheim's WorldBeat Jazz series continues throughout the summer on Friday and Saturday evenings from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. with African and African-influenced music. Kanza, a Zairean soukous band, will perform in the month of June; in July, The Believ ers, a west African-inspired trio will appear; in August, the series continues with the Spirit Ensemble Trio, a group that uses traditional African instruments; and multi-instrumentalist Zusaan Kali Fasteau rounds out the series in September. All perform ances are free with museum admission and take place in the rotunda. On Sundays, June 9, July 14, August 11, and September 8 at 5:00 p.m., the Guggenheim is offering Evenings of Fine Art and Food, a program that begins with a one-hour guided tour of Africa: The Art of a Continent and a light dinner in the museum's caf‚. T he price for the evening is $30 ($25 for members). For additional information and reservations, call 212/423-3664.
Website
The Guggenheim Museum's website (http://www.guggenheim.org/), launched in 1995, makes information about its international programs accessible to audiences around the world. There will be a section devoted to Africa: The Art of A Continent that will offer images and information about selected works in the exhibition, as well as text on related educational and public programming. There will also be an area on the site relating to In/sight: African Photographers,1940 to the Present and L ights on Africa: A Program of African Film.
Publications
Africa: The Art of a Continent, a fully illustrated, scholarly catalogue, accompanies the exhibition. Published by the Royal Academy of Arts and Prestel Verlag, it includes a preface by Cornel West, an introduction by Tom Phillips, and essays by Henry Lo uis Gates, Jr., Kwame Anthony Appiah, and Peter Garlake. The catalogue includes full-length, illustrated essays on each of the seven principal sections of the exhibition and an entry on each object included in the London presentation.
Africa: The Art of a Continent, 100 Works of Power and Beauty, a fully illustrated, 200-page handbook published by the Guggenheim Museum, highlights a selection of masterpieces from each section of the exhibition. It includes many works unique to the New York presentation. In addition to an introduction by Cornel West, this publication includes essays by Kwame Anthony Appiah, Suzanne Preston Blier of the Department of Fine Arts of Harvard University, Ekpo Eyo, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Peter Ma rk. The hardcover edition is distributed by Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
@Guggenheim, a complimentary brochure published by the Guggenheim Museum, includes information on Africa: The Art of a Continent and its related programming, as well as texts on upcoming exhibitions at both the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the Guggenheim Museum SoHo. It will be available throughout the museum.
Tour
Africa: The Art of a Continent was on view at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, from October 4, 1995, to January 21, 1996, and the Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, from March 1 to May 1, 1996. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is the sole United States venue for this exhibition.
FOR PRESS INFORMATION:
Christine Ferrara
Public Affairs Department
Telephone: 212/423-3841
Telefax: 212/941-8410
E-mail: cferrara@guggenheim.org
<- Back to the Main Index Page
<- To the Clickable Map of Africa ->
<-To Programs and Events in Conjunction with this Exhibition ->