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African
Beaded Art: Power and Adornment
Excerpted from a Museum
of Art press release.
John Pemberton, III, guest curator, African Beaded Art:
Power and Adornment |
The Smith College
Museum of Art is pleased to announce the opening of African
Beaded Art: Power and Adornment,
an exhibition of exquisite beaded art from West, Central,
and Southeast Africa, February 1 through June
15, 2008. SCMA is the sole venue for this exhibition, organized
by guest curator John Pemberton, III.
Pemberton, who is professor
emeritus at Amherst College and curatorial consultant for
African art at SCMA, was one of the first scholars to recognize
and study beaded objects as works of art, rather than as
craft. Although
his research since 1970 has focused on the religion and art
of the Yoruba peoples of Nigeria and Benin, he has traveled
to a wide range of countries in central and western Africa,
and over the past decade has become increasingly interested
in cross-cultural study. Glass beads arrived in Africa
from Europe, and to a lesser extent India, as early as the
16th and 17th centuries, but they didn’t become widely
available until the 19th and 20th centuries, the period from
which the works in this exhibition are drawn.
African Beaded Art features
nearly 150 works, including apparel and furniture for kings
and rulers, clothing and costumes for dancers and ritual
use, necklaces, sculpture, tools, vessels, and a diverse
assortment of objects with many functions. One of
the first to survey beaded art work across a spectrum of
African cultures, this exhibition is
divided into five sections: Nigeria/Yoruba; the Cameroon
Grasslands of West Africa; the Kasai region in Central Africa;
and the Southeastern Cape region of South Africa.
 Two free public programs will
mark the opening of African Beaded Art. On
Friday, Feb. 1, at 5:30 p.m., Professor Pemberton will
present a one-hour slide talk in Stoddard Hall (Elm Street
across from the Museum). No
reservations are necessary. The Museum and Museum Shop
will remain open until 5:30 p.m. on February 1; Museum admission
will be waived from 4-5:30 p.m. On Friday, February 8 (snow
date February 9), the Museum will host a free Second Friday
Party from 4 to 9 p.m. featuring a Family African Dance Demo
and Workshop from 4-5 p.m. (with Smith College students,
led by the Bamidele Dancers and Drummers of Western Mass.). The
highlight of the evening will be a free live performance
by the funky, young Afro beat band NOMO, an 8-member group
from Ann Arbor, Mich. The band will play two sets from
7-8:45 p.m. Other Second Friday Party programming will
include the chance to visit the Museum’s Cunningham
Center (featuring the Museum’s collection of works
on paper) from 4-6 p.m., and a “Meet and Greet” with
John Pemberton from 5-6:30 p.m. Sam’s Café will
cater light refreshments in the Atrium from 5-6:30 p.m. This
event is entirely free; all ages welcome. No reservations
necessary.
Also in conjunction with African
Beaded Art, the
Museum will host “Just
BEAD It! Free Family Day @ SCMA” on Saturday, March
29.
Major lenders to African Beaded
Art include the Metropolitan Museum of Art
(New York City), The National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian
Institution (Washington, D.C.), the Field Museum of Natural
History (Chicago), the Museum of Fine Arts (Houston), the
New Orleans Museum of Art, and the Dallas Museum of Art.
In addition, 20 private collectors loaned objects, and SCMA
contributed one object from its collection: a Yoruba crown.
Major funding for the
exhibition was provided by the Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne,
The National Endowment for the Arts, the Mellon Foundation,
and the Tryon Associates of the Museum. Additional
funding has been provided by the Massachusetts Cultural
Council.
A 200-page, full-color catalogue
by John Pemberton, III accompanies the exhibition and is
available at the SCMA Museum Shop ($36 Museum Members; $40
Non-members).
Visit for
a complete listing of exhibitions and programs. |
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