African Art exhibit
African Art exhibit Warren Robbins in the Pensacola Museum of Art's
| 8/14/2009-10/10/2009 |
Art of
Africa: Objects from the Collection of Warren Robbins |
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August 14 - October 10, 2009
Art of Africa: Objects from the Collection of Warren Robbins,
highlights the private collection of the founder and former director
of the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Art of Africa presents more than 80 objects including sculpture,
textiles, beaded clothing and jewelry, which broadly represent the
creativity and diversity of artistic expression of nearly 30
cultures of sub-Saharan Africa. Accompanied by music and
photographs, the exhibition will illustrate the broader cultural
context in which these art forms were created and used. The
collection is on loan from the Center for Cross Cultural
Communication in Washington, D.C. Warren Robbins, its founder and
director, is also founding director emeritus of the National
Museum of African Art, now a branch of the Smithsonian
Institution.
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Museum exhibits a diverse collection of African art
by Mike Roberts • pensacolaeyeonart@yahoo.com • August 28, 2009 found at pnj.com
 One
of the pieces on display in the Pensacola Museum of Art's African Art exhibit.
(Special to the PNJ News Journal)
In another unexpected move, the Pensacola Museum of Art's exhibition
"Art of Africa: Objects from the Collection of Warner Robbins" is an
educational preface to the continent's contribution to the art world. Not only
does it attempt to resist packaging African art as a singular style, it also
asks tough questions about the difference between craft and art and how to judge
when utilitarian work becomes art.
Unfortunately, the show fails to provide answers, so you're on your own. It
runs through Oct. 10.
It's the exhibit's presentation that posits African art's variety and
distinction, with placards for its three-dimensional works. Each one describes
the function of each piece, the specific group of people that made it and
includes maps showing what country it's from. Its push to individualize African
art is a bit forced, but you get the point.
The common thread here is the handmade object. Most of the work is from West
Africa near the Atlantic coast. The collection ranges from iron weapons from the
Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) to ceremonial masks from Cameroon,
Ghana, Burkina Faso, Cote D'Ivoire, Mali and Nigeria. Headdresses are also
prevalent, often combining animal forms like a crocodile bearing the eyes of an
owl.
While African art has suffered from an identity crisis, ironically, it has
gained significance in collecting circles because of its simple labeling.
Western collectors have prized it for its cultural cachet, an implicit effort to
ameliorate European and American imperialism and the exploitation of Africa.
Likewise, one can almost picture the show's pair of tomb sculptures from
Madagascar positioned just so in a well-heeled entrepreneur's private study. The
same goes for the decorative granary door from Mali, the ceremonial cloth from
Ghana or the three-figure-supported stool from Nigeria.
But cynicism aside, at least here, for the moment, we get to view a few of
Africa's treasures within the protective halls of a museum.
Mike Roberts
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