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Smithsonian Museum in Washington Showcases Central Nigerian Art
- By Williams Ekanem
- Published September 12th, 2011
- Washington File
- Unrated
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art in Washington D.C is to showcase arts from Central Nigeria this week.
Scheduled to hold from Sept. 14, 2011 through March 4, Eddie Burke, one of the organizers say the international exhibition presents a comprehensive view of the arts produced in central part of Nigeria and includes some of the most abstract, dramatic and inventive sculpture from sub-Saharan Africa.
Tagged, “Central Nigeria Unmasked: Arts of the Benue River Valley” the exhibition features more than 148 objects used in a range of ritual contexts, with genres as varied and complex as the vast region itself.
It will demonstrate how the history of central Nigeria can be “unmasked” through the dynamic interrelationships of its peoples and their arts. The organizer say the exhibition includes full-bodied maternal images, sleek columnar statues, helmet masks adorned with naturalistic human faces, horizontal masks designed as stylized animal-human fusions, imaginative anthropomorphic ceramic vessels and elaborate regalia forged in iron and cast in copper alloys.
”This exhibition is a treasure trove of outstanding works of art, placed for the first time, within a broader context,” said curator Karen Milbourne. “This exhibition tells the story of how individual artists have experimented with styles and communities have exchanged ideas and objects. It sheds light on a heretofore little understood but long- admired art-producing region.”
”Central Nigeria Unmasked: Arts of the Benue River Valley” is organized by the Fowler Museum at UCLA in association with the Musée du quai Branly in Paris.
Public programs, including a “talking drums” workshop and lecture in late 2011, will complement the exhibition.
Major support for the exhibition is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Fowler Museum’s Shirley and Ralph Shapiro Director’s Discretionary Fund, Jay and Deborah Last, Joseph and Barbara Goldenberg, Robert T. Wall Family and Jill and Barry Kitnick.
Major funding for the publication is provided by The Ahmanson Foundation with additional support from the Ethnic Arts Council of Los Angeles. The planning phase of this project was funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The National Museum of African Art venue of “Central Nigeria Unmasked” is sponsored by This Day Live and Arise Magazine, with additional support provided by Chevron and Arik Air.
Scheduled to hold from Sept. 14, 2011 through March 4, Eddie Burke, one of the organizers say the international exhibition presents a comprehensive view of the arts produced in central part of Nigeria and includes some of the most abstract, dramatic and inventive sculpture from sub-Saharan Africa.
Tagged, “Central Nigeria Unmasked: Arts of the Benue River Valley” the exhibition features more than 148 objects used in a range of ritual contexts, with genres as varied and complex as the vast region itself.
It will demonstrate how the history of central Nigeria can be “unmasked” through the dynamic interrelationships of its peoples and their arts. The organizer say the exhibition includes full-bodied maternal images, sleek columnar statues, helmet masks adorned with naturalistic human faces, horizontal masks designed as stylized animal-human fusions, imaginative anthropomorphic ceramic vessels and elaborate regalia forged in iron and cast in copper alloys.
”This exhibition is a treasure trove of outstanding works of art, placed for the first time, within a broader context,” said curator Karen Milbourne. “This exhibition tells the story of how individual artists have experimented with styles and communities have exchanged ideas and objects. It sheds light on a heretofore little understood but long- admired art-producing region.”
”Central Nigeria Unmasked: Arts of the Benue River Valley” is organized by the Fowler Museum at UCLA in association with the Musée du quai Branly in Paris.
Public programs, including a “talking drums” workshop and lecture in late 2011, will complement the exhibition.
Major support for the exhibition is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Fowler Museum’s Shirley and Ralph Shapiro Director’s Discretionary Fund, Jay and Deborah Last, Joseph and Barbara Goldenberg, Robert T. Wall Family and Jill and Barry Kitnick.
Major funding for the publication is provided by The Ahmanson Foundation with additional support from the Ethnic Arts Council of Los Angeles. The planning phase of this project was funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The National Museum of African Art venue of “Central Nigeria Unmasked” is sponsored by This Day Live and Arise Magazine, with additional support provided by Chevron and Arik Air.
