African Art Exhibit Featured at the Tubman Museum
“What’s unique about this exhibition is that it is not overly concerned with conventional distinctions between “authentic” and “commercial” African art,” explains Jeff Bruce, curator at the Tubman Museum. “Instead, each object is exhibited because it illustrates aesthetic concepts and cultural iconographies that make traditional African art unique and compelling.”
Each piece represents societal practices that have had an influence on the development of African American culture and history. More than just secular decoration, traditional art production on the African continent has often served a ritual or ceremonial function within communities. Unlike the Western tradition, African craftspeople did not see their works as an end unto themselves, but rather as essential elements of both secular and religious life.
Since the 1920s, the development of art collages has helped to bolster the production of contemporary arts in which African artists have successfully integrated diverse, international influences into their work. On the other hand, the commercial impact of the West has been to strip away much of the function and meaning of traditional African art, turning objects that were once considered essential to a way of life, into souvenirs for tourist consumption.
Comprised of more than thirty objects and works of art, this exhibition features a selection of ceramics, masks, ceremonial, and utilitarian objects. It is just a small sample of the rich artistic traditions and cultural heritage of the continent of Africa.
African Art from the Tubman Museum Collection will remain on view in the BB&T Gallery through July 30, 2022.
For more information:
Call: 478-743-8544
Visit: 301 Cherry Street, Macon GA 31201
Connect: www.tubmanmuseum.com
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