The National Museum of African Art will exhibit Striking Iron: The Art of African Blacksmiths, February 27-October 20.The exhibition will focus on the work of African blacksmiths who - over more than two millennia - developed technology to transform iron into "objects of life-changing utility, empowerment, prestige, spiritual potency, and artistry." Striking Iron is an international traveling exhibition organized by the Fowler Museum at UCLA.The exhibition includes over 225 artworks from across the African continent, focusing on the region south of the Sahara and covering a time period spanning early archaeological evidence to the present day. The exhibit features artworks from the Fowler collection as well as from American and European public and private collections.
The National Museum of African Art opened Good as Gold: Fashioning Senegalese Womenin October, 2018. In the cities of the West African nation of Senegal, "stylish women have often used jewelry as part of an overall strategy of exhibiting their elegance and prestige. Rooted in the Wolof concept of sanse (dressing up, looking and feeling good), Good as Gold examines the production, display, and circulation of gold in Senegal as it celebrates a significant gift of gold jewelry to the National Museum of African Art’s collection."
Image below: A map showing the location of Senegal.
The National Museum of African Art is exhibiting a permanent exhibition titled Visionary: Viewpoints on Africa's Arts.The installation features over 300 works of art and comprises the largest long-term presentation of the Museum’s permanent collection to date. Visionary is “the museum’s first exhibition to offer broad thematic connections between works from across the spectrum of times, places, and media represented in the museum’s holdings.”
The Museum of African Art is exhibiting Artists' Books and Africa for an indefinite period. The exhibition is the first to focus on African artists' books from the Smithsonian Libraries’ Warren M. Robbins Library and the National Museum of African Art.
Augustus (Gus) Casely-Hayford, Ph.D. has been named the Director of The National Museum of African Art (NMAA). The acclaimed curator and cultural historian is known for his impressive combination of knowledge, experience, communication skills and passion to the Museum. Born in London, he was educated at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, where he received his doctorate in African history. Casely-Hayford succeeds Johnnetta Betsch Cole, who served as director of the NMAA from March 2009 through March 2017.
Image below: Gus Casely-Hayford, Ph.D. - Photograph by Jaimie Gramston
