Baltimore Museum of Art showcases African culture
Alexa Gagliardi
Issue date: 3/18/08 Section: News
The Baltimore Museum of Art houses an extensive African art collection, numbering over 2,000 pieces. In attempt to showcase their African art, the museum sponsored the African Spirit Series, which concludes with the current exhibition, Meditations on African Art: Pattern. This exhibit is the last of three installations, focusing on patterns in African art, while the others concentrated on light and color.
Though there is not room to display the entire African art collection, this exhibit draws together 70 unique pieces that help to convey African culture. Walking through the exhibit, noting the materials used to create the artworks, it is clear that African art is quite primitive. Many of the works were created as some combination of wood, straw, animal hide, and natural pigments. But even though the works appear primitive, it is interesting to note that they are not created solely for aesthetic purposes; most works maintain a functional aspect as well. The collection includes a number of items, ranging from battle shields to adinkra dye stamps, all both functional and artistic.
Again, the primitive nature of these works is challenged as certain pieces reflect the artist's intelligence. For example, a drum from the Kuba kingdom in the Congo, dated in the 20th century, shows the capability of these primitive tribes to form visual puns. The handle of the drum is shaped like a hand, which not only signifies that a hand is what carries the drum by the handle, but also that a hand is what strikes the drum in order to make it sound. Creative techniques such as this are shown elsewhere in the exhibit as well.
African artists use pattern to express individual and cultural identity even further through markings on their bodies. Body pattern is expressed as a symbol of social status as well as personality. The exhibit includes numerous carved human figures expressing their tattoos, marked clothing, body paint, etc. which is indicative of their culture. The human skin was though to be the most intimate canvas, and African artists sought to use the human skin as a means of artistic expression.
The Meditations on African Art: Pattern exhibit will be open until Aug. 17, when the African Spirit Series concludes. The Museum is located at 10 Art Museum Drive, and admission is free.
For anyone interested in African culture, this exhibit is not something to be missed. This collection offers true insight into the nature of African art to include patterns as well expressions of their culture.
Though there is not room to display the entire African art collection, this exhibit draws together 70 unique pieces that help to convey African culture. Walking through the exhibit, noting the materials used to create the artworks, it is clear that African art is quite primitive. Many of the works were created as some combination of wood, straw, animal hide, and natural pigments. But even though the works appear primitive, it is interesting to note that they are not created solely for aesthetic purposes; most works maintain a functional aspect as well. The collection includes a number of items, ranging from battle shields to adinkra dye stamps, all both functional and artistic.
Again, the primitive nature of these works is challenged as certain pieces reflect the artist's intelligence. For example, a drum from the Kuba kingdom in the Congo, dated in the 20th century, shows the capability of these primitive tribes to form visual puns. The handle of the drum is shaped like a hand, which not only signifies that a hand is what carries the drum by the handle, but also that a hand is what strikes the drum in order to make it sound. Creative techniques such as this are shown elsewhere in the exhibit as well.
African artists use pattern to express individual and cultural identity even further through markings on their bodies. Body pattern is expressed as a symbol of social status as well as personality. The exhibit includes numerous carved human figures expressing their tattoos, marked clothing, body paint, etc. which is indicative of their culture. The human skin was though to be the most intimate canvas, and African artists sought to use the human skin as a means of artistic expression.
The Meditations on African Art: Pattern exhibit will be open until Aug. 17, when the African Spirit Series concludes. The Museum is located at 10 Art Museum Drive, and admission is free.
For anyone interested in African culture, this exhibit is not something to be missed. This collection offers true insight into the nature of African art to include patterns as well expressions of their culture.
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