Diverging Streams: Eastern Nigerian Art at the Baltimore Museum of Art

A new gallery for thematic exhibitions of African art at the Baltimore Museum of Art debuts with the reopening of the Museum's collection galleries. Diverging Streams: Eastern Nigerian Art features nearly 20 headdresses, masks, and costumes from the eastern Nigerian region of Africa, demonstrating the exchange between the Igbo, Jukun, Igala, Ogoni, Boki, Idoma, Ibibio, and Ejagham artists who lived between the Benue and Cross rivers.

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Janiform head crest  -  Cross River, Nigeria  -  Early 20th century

Installation view at the BMA

Wurtzburger African Art Gallery at the Baltimore Museum of Art

The core of the African art collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art is a gift of 125 objects from the collection of Janet and Alan Wurtzburger that came to the museum in 1954. Now featuring more than 2,100 objects that span from ancient Egypt to contemporary Zimbabwe, the collection includes works from more than 200 African cultures in a full range of media. The gallery for the BMA’s African art collection has been expanded to more than three times its former size and has been relocated to the center of the museum’s first floor. This new Alan and Janet Wurtzburger African Art Gallery opened to the public on April 26, 2015. More than 100 objects, many large scale, address the impact of region, history, and culture on African art traditions. Several of these objects, such as the majestic Baga d’mba yoke from Guinea, are considered to be among the best of their kind.

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Shoulder headdress, d'mba  -  Baga, Guinea  -  Late 19th to early 20th century

Image courtesy of the Baltimore Museum of Art