On February 1, 2008 I attended the opening of the beadwork exhibition titled African Beaded Art: Power and Adornment. The show runs through June 15, 2008 and is a must-see exhibition for any beadwork enthusiast.
Curated by noted Yoruba scholar, Jack Pemberton (pictured above with lender, Holly Ross, in background), the exhibition was many years in the making. Initially intended to encompass beadwork from North America as well, the sheer size of the undertaking required that the exhibition be scaled back to its present format. The exhibition focuses on beadwork from the following regions:
- the Yoruba of southwestern Nigeria;
- the Bamum and Bamileke peoples of the Cameroon Grasslands;
- the Kuba, with reference also to the Luba, Yaka, and Pende peoples of the Kasai region of the Congo;
- and the North Nguni (Zulu-speaking), South Nguni (Xhosa-speaking), and Ndebele peoples of Southeast Africa.
This exhibition and its catalogue examine how the peoples of sub-Saharan Africa responded to imported beads, both in aesthetic terms and in the ways beads reflected their changing social and political situation in the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth century. It specifically challenges uncritical assumptions that African art is essentially—or only—sculptural.
The exhibition draws from a number of public and private collections in the USA, including the Field Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The southern African pieces were largely drawn from private collections including those of Gary van Wyk and Lisa Brittan, Toby Kasper and Susan Priebatsch. I was very honored to have a number of pieces from my personal collection included as well.
The catalogue, in soft cover only, is also well worth getting - it is available online at the Smith College Museum Store at $40. I also have a number on hand as well, signed by Mr. Pemberton, so feel free to email me for a copy.
Daniel
JacarandaTribal.com
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