I recently curated selections and wrote labels for a nimble reinstallation effort at the Newark Museum, where I serve as Research Associate for the Arts of Global Africa. I am particularly excited to have visitors see a unique Dyula wrapper collected by the museum in 1929. I recently spoke about this work to the museum’s docents.
Read more about further expansive reinstallation efforts in this recent press release.
I moved on from my position as curatorial assistant for the arts of africa, the pacific islands, asia, and the islamic world at the Brooklyn Museum this past April. I was glad to have done some brief writing via tumblr while there.
Drawing upon the theme of close-looking explicit in the curator’s conception of Double Take: African Innovations, this post invited viewers to consider unexpected asymmetrical design in Kuba Palm Wine Cups and to make visual connections with similar designs on raffia textiles also on view: http://tmblr.co/ZmSHOy1XFaEj8
This post ask
ed viewers to consider close-looking with multiple senses using aso-oke cloth from southwest Nigeria on view in an installation of touch-cloth: http://tmblr.co/ZmSHOy1ZyoIFg
I traveled to Côte d’Ivoire this past July for three weeks with a small group of Africanist museum professionals. Brief reflections from this formative trip will be posted to the Brooklyn Museum’s tumblr over the course of the next several weeks. The introductory post from Kevin Dumouchelle is here, with entries on copper-alloy casting, masquerade, and textiles posted thus far.
I recently published an essay on Brooklyn Museum’s ndop sculpture through Smart History at Khan Academy. Smart History seeks to, in part, make the study of art more accessible for high school students studying for the AP exam in art history.
For the last few months I have been working as Symposium Coordinator for the Arts Council of the African Studies Association (ACASA). ACASA, arguably the premier organization for the promotion of the material and expressive cultures of the Arts of Africa, will host their triennial symposium conference at the Brooklyn Museum from March 19 – 22.
The printed program has gone to press and the electronic version is now available online. With over sixty panels and two hundred participants, it promises to be an exciting and dynamic event. Looking forward!
Hyperallergic recently wrote about the work of the Brooklyn Museum’s wikipedia initiative, specifically the work of the Alexandra Thom as the Kress Foundation Interpretive Fellow, in residence at the museum until late last year. I was glad that I got to take part in the reviewing and editing of Wikipedia articles on the arts of Africa. There’s certainly a value in providing context and information to art outside of museum walls. Hopefully it gets people in to see the collection, too, yes?
You can read the article here, and learn more about the project on the museum’s blog.
Roger D. Arnold 