Trance Diviner’s figure, “African, Baule peoples, Ivory Coast”, 19th century. Wood, beads, and cloth, 19 ½ x 5 ¼ x 6 inches. Promised gift of Adele and Donald Hall in honor of the 75th anniversary of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 10.2007.2.

KANSAS CITY, MO.- The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art today announced a promised gift of seven extraordinary works of African art from the private collection of longtime Museum patrons Adele and Donald Hall, in honor of the Museum’s 75th Anniversary.

More about the donation and a portrait of MR. & Mrs. Hall & further informations about this  Gift of Stellar African Works of Art

Four generations of Barbier-Muellers

 Upcoming USA exhibition opens on April 11, 2009, “Through African Eyes: The European in African Art, 1500 to Present.”  Those used to European images of Africans — often condescending or downright racist, depending on the era — will enjoy the sometimes ironic results when the mirror is turned from colonized to colonizers. The show closes Aug. 8 2009

Power Exhibition in Germany :

In many societies power is based on knowledge, experience, merit, and loyalty. Yet power is more Janus-faced than virtually any other phenomenon. The taking of human life in order to seize or retain power is an extreme form of expression which manifests itself most brutally during wartime. Religion has often served power, and relationships based on exchange have stabilised power structures. Indeed, trade and religion have often not only supported the status quo, they have aided and abetted, even embodied, the darker aspects of the ruling forces. Power has also always made use of art, and artists have taken power as their theme – either critically or commissioned by the powerful themselves.

From an Ethnological to a Historic Approach: The Chokwe

Figure of Chibinda Ilunga, Angola, Chokwe, 19th Century; Ethnologisches Museum, SMB. Photo: Claudia Obrocki

The Chowke today live in north-western Angola and in the south-west of the Democratic Republic of Congo.The end of the slave trade in the first half of the 19th century, which had connected Africa, Europe, and America in a tight net of trade for several centuries, entailed a deep economic cut for the peoples living on the shores of Western Africa. Many communities of huntersand of refugees from the slave hunts came to wealth and political power through trade with products like Ivory and bees wax. Only in this process their identity as Chokwe emerged. Their political and economic expansion soon threatened long-established political organisations like the neighbouring kingdom of the Lunda. The numerous competing and trading leaders also bolstered their claim to power by promoting artistic expression. Chokwe artists integrated stylistic elements of the neighbouring African peoples and the Europeans into their own art and thus developed one of the most impressive styles of art of the African continent.

Contact informations to visit this exhibition:

A new book was published by the Museo d’Arte & Scienza in Madrid.

Main contents of the book
The round or natural style is the most ancient Black African art style, whilst a style hailed as primitive (“abstract“) could be directed at the Western market and lovers of modern painting. Of great interest might be the comments on what is judged as “colonial” and “decadent” and the concepts of “straight lines” and “rare“.
Masks – Dan, Yoruba, Ibo, Songye, Ekoi, Bambara, Senufo, Fang…Helmets, Headdresses, Two-faced, Zoomorphic and Ritual Dance Masks.
Figures – Facial expressions on masks and figures; The development of Dogon art; Baule spirit spouses; Man, Woman and their different social status; Couples; Ibeji twin figures.
The cult – The fertility cult, The funeral and divination cult.
Musical instruments
Receptacles and other utensils of artistic value
Objects in bronze and other metals
The art of the Ife and Benin kingdoms
Stone figures
Terracotta figures and heads
The Authenticity of African Art - Artworks in Wood, Bronze, Stone, Terracotta and Ivory: Dating, Corrosion, Fake corrosion, Abrasion, Patinas, Paints, Manufacturing process, Restoration.

to buy this book and read more

Nkisi Power Figure- AMAM African Sculpture Exhibition

The dynamic sculptural works exhibited here ––from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, and other African countries––were chosen from a private collection to supplement the AMAM’s permanent collection of African art, which has a strong emphasis on West African art of the Yoruba peoples.

  Die Sammlungen – Afrika -Museum für Völkerkunde Dresden

 Barbier-Mueller at the Met

by Larry Weinberg

June 11, 2009

Let’s start with the good news: “African and Oceanic Art from the Barbier-Mueller Museum, Geneva: A Legacy of Collecting,” running through September 27 at the Met, is a show well worth seeing. The exhibition features 36 works—all masterpieces—from one of the world’s great private art collections. Begun by Josef Mueller (1887-1974) in the 1920’s, and continued by his son-in-law Jean-Paul Barbier-Mueller, the collection was placed on permanent display in 1977. The works on view range across a wide swath of Africa and the South Pacific, and they brilliantly demonstrate the virtuosity and formal inventiveness of individual creative talents.

Now for the not-so-good news: from the title to the installation to the catalog photography, the exhibition raises issues, or at least fails to resolve concerns, which make it difficult to absorb the magnitude of the works presented. 

Persona Mask Exhibition Tervueren

Persona. Ritual masks and contemporary art in the Africa Museum RMCA in Tervueren from April 24th, 2009 to January 3rd, 2010

Persona (buy the catalog)  Anne-Marie Bouttiaux…

official site: www.africamuseum.be/persona

Perfect to view in combination with the bruneaf fair (3-7 june 2009)

The exhibition features …

Femmes dans les arts d'Afrique book

“Women in African Art”  Femmes dans les Arts D’Afrique – Museum Dapper Paris

Gender relations and mythology shape an exhibition of female figures from all over Africa, writes Philippe Dagen in Le Monde

From Thursday, October 9 2008 to Sunday, July 12 2009

More »

This exhibition includes a selection of fine African and Oceanic sculpture that once belonged to Vlaminck, who was among the earliest European enthusiasts and collectors of tribal art, a field that was to have a huge impact on 20th-century European art.

Madrid, 9 of March of 2009 a video, photos  and more explanation 

African Art from the Honolulu Academy’s Collection

A wooden standing female figure from the Bena Lulua tribe of the Congo (13,000.1), now on view in Gallery 22. In celebration of Black History Month, the Textile and Education departments teamed up to present a rare exhibition of African art from the Academy’s collection, like the fine Benalulua you can see on the affiche.

See a video, some of the pieces of this collection and details