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Dec 25 2011
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Denver Art Museum, Hirshhorn, Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Museum of African Art

Zen and the Museum: Top Five for 2011

I’m reaching beyond the Beltway for my top five this year, to include the Met and–a nice surprise– the Denver Art Museum. My most memorable museum experiences this year ranged from contemplative to camp:

1. Fragments in Time and Space (Hirshhorn): Seeing Hiroshi Sugimoto’s Seascapes series, illuminated in a pitch-black gallery that mimicked the curve of the earth, was almost a religious experience. “Every time I view the sea, I feel a calming sense of security, as if visiting my ancestral home; I embark on a voyage of seeing,” Sugimoto writes of his work. A voyage of seeing. If I had a mantra, that would be it.

2. Galleries for the Art of the Arab Lands (Metropolitan Museum of Art): If the aim of these newly renovated galleries is to present the “plurality of the Islamic tradition,” the Met succeeds beyond expectation. I visited last weekend and was blown away by the depth of this collection, particularly in the Iranian section. My sister, a high school history teacher in the DC area, is already planning a day trip for her AP students. I walked out of there thinking, I’m lucky I live a short train ride from New York.

3. Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty (Metropolitan Museum of Art): I arrived first thing Sunday morning and only had to wait in line 40 minutes. So worth it, and extra fun coming on the heels of a royal wedding and New York’s same sex marriage victory. The clothes were astonishing; the creative genius behind them more so.

4. Nigeria Unmasked (National Museum of African Art): Because my experience in Africa is lacking–I’ve only been once, to Ouagadougou, of all places–this trip through Nigeria’s Benue River Valley was an eye-opener. The video installations in particular bring the region’s rich culture to life, showing ghostly 1960s footage of ritual masquerades. Made me wonder why I didn’t pursue anthropology. See it through March 4, 2012.

5. Robert Adams: The Place We Live (Denver Art Museum): I guess I should give Denver more credit; turns out the city supports a world-class art museum. On my first trip to the city this year, for a wedding, I spent a quiet afternoon studying Robert Adams’ spare black-and-white landscapes and thinking about what it means to be Western. Adams’ translation of Colorado’s wide open spaces made me understand a little bit better. Runs through January 1, 2012.

Sep 17 2011
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Fowler Museum, Musee de quai Branly, National Museum of African Art

Nigeria Unmasked

I spent an hour at Central Nigeria Unmasked: Arts of the Benue River Valley this morning and felt like I’d been left alone in an anthropologist’s attic, free to open old trunks and disentangle film reels. Kudos to UCLA’s Fowler Museum and the Musée du quai Branly for organizing an exhibit that immerses you in another time and place.

The show takes visitors on a journey up Nigeria’s Benue River, moving through the artistic traditions of multiple, distinct ethnic groups. Its 150 masks, figurines, vessels and weapons are fascinating as works of art and as ritualistic objects. While the masks take center stage, the “healing vessels” are of particular interest, created as a way to transfer illness from a sick patient to an inanimate object. One vessel, for example, is covered with small bumps, mimicking a pox-like disease. Others are designed to protect women and their unborn fetuses.

What makes the show come alive, however, are several films that show Benue Valley ritual masquerades. I was totally absorbed by the Super 8 films (above) shot by UCLA art historian Arnold Rubin in 1965 and 1970. They haven’t been shown in public before and don’t have a soundtrack, which enhances their other-worldly quality. The dancers represent resurrected ancestral spirits, clothed in raffia capes and hybrid human-animal masks.

According to the Fowler’s press release, Rubin’s fieldwork was the inspiration for this exhibition. One can imagine the professor providing a narrative of Middle Benue masquerades to UCLA colleagues of the era, opening a window into a little-studied region then engulfed in the Biafran War. It must have been a revelation. Still is.

Central Nigeria Unmasked: Arts of the Benue River Valley runs through March 4, 2012 at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art.

Related: Los Angeles Times review

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Nov 28 2010
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National Museum of African Art, National Museum of Women in the Arts

Haiti, In a Time of Cholera

Today Haiti holds its first elections since the devastating January 2010 earthquake, amid a raging cholera epidemic.

News reports so far aren’t encouraging–Haitians are showing up at the polls only to find their names aren’t on registration lists, and the mood appears tense.

Few places in the world tug at my conscience more than Haiti. If you’re thinking, or reading, about the island nation this week, consider stopping by a couple of exhibits that showcase what makes Haiti unique:

*African Mosaic (National Museum of African Art) includes a larger-than-life sculpture of Haitian independence leader Toussaint Louverture , by Senegalese sculptor Ousmane Sow. A reminder that Haiti threw off slavery in 1804 to become the first independent nation in Latin America.

*Lois Mailou Jones: A Life in Vibrant Color (National Museum of Women in the Arts) includes a series of paintings depicting Haitian street life from the 1950s through the 80s. Jones married a Haitian artist and adopted the nation as her second home. Her paintings show the nation’s culture at its most vibrant.

Eighteen candidates are running for the Haitian presidency. Let’s hope voters give one a clear mandate.

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Nov 20 2010
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National Museum of African Art

North African Gold

Last month, a friend returned from a work trip to Mauritania and brought back this bracelet as a belated birthday gift. I love it because the design is uniquely North African, and it’s something I likely wouldn’t find outside the region.

Jewelry is one of my favorite things to buy when I travel; I’ve got a silver ring from Bali and a bracelet from Chiang Mai that I wear all the time. But North Africa is completely undiscovered territory. Whenever I get to Morocco (and I will), I imagine I’ll depart with bagfuls of filigreed earrings.

This morning I got a chance to see some stunning jewelry from Morocco, Algeria and Mauritania at the National Museum of African Art’s African Mosaic exhibit, which opened this week. The show includes both modern and traditional art from across the continent, mixing sculptures, paintings, textiles, masks, photos–you name it.

The North African necklaces, earrings and headdresses are particularly interesting because many were made by Jewish artisans, drawing on traditions that migrated from Spain after Jews were expelled in the 15th century.

Let’s just say it’s stuff I wouldn’t mind wearing. For now, I’ve got friends who travel to Mauritania, which suits me fine.

African Mosaic: Celebrating A Decade of Collecting runs through December 2011. Read a related NPR blog here.

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Sep 12 2010
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Freer-Sackler, Library of Congress, Musee des Beaux Arts, National Museum of African Art, Renwick Gallery

Museumgoer, Meet Armchair Traveler

In today’s New York Times, art critic Holland Cotter commends several U.S. museums for going global this year via blockbuster exhibits of non-Western art, starting with a major Chinese show at the Met this fall.

He writes:

“In the most culturally interconnected time ever, familiarity with the art of the rest of the world, which means exposure to other ideas and values, just makes practical sense: it keeps us in the cosmopolitan loop, makes us full citizens.”

Yes and yes.

I work in international development. Learning about other cultures is what gets me out of bed every morning, and DC’s museums are an excellent venue for this. But there’s another benefit: communing with foreign art also slakes wanderlust for those of us tied to the 9-to-5. In fact, Cotter’s observation forced me to admit I spend many hours in the Freer-Sackler galleries plotting my next trip to Asia, and/or missing the Asia I left three years ago.

On the flip side, I always find it enlightening to visit a U.S.-themed exhibit while traveling out of the country. I had this experience last spring at the Musee des Beaux Arts in Montreal, where I saw the fabulous “We Want Miles,” about the life and music of Miles Davis. Yeah, sure, Canada is only one step removed. But in that setting, while watching Montrealers sit, absorbed, in the sound booths, grooving to “All Blues,” I saw the American jazz tradition with new eyes.

I’m lucky I live in a city where global and local commingle effortlessly on the arts scene. I can get my faux-travel fix pretty much any weekend, and the choices are often far-reaching.

My favorite local-global exhibits of this year? I’ve blogged about them here, channeling Siem Reap and Kabul:

1. Gods of Angkor, Sackler Gallery of Art
2. The Art of Gaman, Renwick Gallery
3. The Healing Power of Art: Works of Art by Haitian Children After the Earthquake, National Museum of African Art
4. Artful Animals, National Museum of African Art
5. Voices from Afghanistan, Library of Congress

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Jul 05 2010
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National Museum of African Art

Haiti’s Children See Hope

On my one and only trip to Haiti, for a work-related conference in 2002, I visited an artisans’ collective on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince. I’d never much considered Haitian art before, but I could see immediately that it carried a unique spirit, that its colors, narrative and voodoo influence made it instantly recognizable.

I ended up buying a tap-tap mobile for my niece and a pierced tin lantern, in the shape of a star, for my mom. They are among the most unique gifts I’ve picked up in my travels, and I’ve held an interest in Haitian artists, one of whom famously made the cover of the New Yorker last winter, since.

Now, in the wake of the devastating January 12 earthquake, Haitian children are finding solace in their country’s artistic traditions, showcased in The Healing Power of Art, an exhibition sponsored by the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, on view at the S. Dillon Ripley Center.

The quake hit kids particularly hard: 4,000 children died when their schools collapsed, and 1.2 million were forced out of school due to the damage. The children’s paintings and drawings featured in the exhibit chronicle the disaster’s progression: first, scenes of chaos; second, scenes of ships and helicopters delivering aid; and last, brightly colored homes and schools as they once were–whole and happy–or as they might be again.

I found the exhibit a sad reminder of Haiti’s long history of struggle and how quickly the world forgets. It’s only been six months, and the recovery is just beginning.

But I was heartened to see that same undeniable Haitian spirit, and that some of the kids, at least, see a brighter path ahead.

I also noticed the preponderance of Haitian flags . Maybe the art teachers prompted this, or maybe the kids were grasping for inspiration, looking to the slogan so prominently draped there:

L’Union Fait la Force. Strength through unity.

The world’s hope for Haiti.

The Healing Power of Art runs through October 17, 2010.

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Apr 30 2010
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National Museum of African Art, Uncategorized

Museum Find: Ghana’s Asafo Flags

There’s plenty to learn about African folklore and wildlife at the National Museum of African Art’s Artful Animals exhibit–hippos represent wealth, a chameleon’s curled tail represents the passage of time–but two items in particular were a revelation to me: Fante Asafo flags from Ghana.

The museum’s two roughly designed cotton flags include animal motifs and a Union Jack in the upper left corner. My inner history major was piqued: What were these relics of Empire?

Turns out the flags represent military companies in coastal Ghana and depict historical events or proverbs, often through the display of animals. Flags made before Ghana’s independence in 1957 show the Union Jack, those made after 1957 incorporate the Ghanaian flag.

I later found this fascinating collection of Fante Asafo flags posted by an art gallery in Boston. Not only are the scenes on the flags wildly divergent, the British flag is interpreted in every way imaginable.

I’m usually into Asian art, not African, but these are so cool they make me want to start collecting.

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Dec 03 2009
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Corcoran Gallery of Art, National Building Museum, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Textile Museum

Top Five for Holiday Shopping

Yes, it’s that time of year again. I’ve long favored D.C.’s museum gift shops for unique holiday gifts. Here, my top five, with their strong suits. Check ‘em out.

1. National Building Museum: children’s toys and games, books on art and architecture
2. Smithsonian American Art Museum: silver jewelry, funky bags
3. Corcoran Gallery of Art: Christmas cards and wrapping paper, notecards, jewelry
4. National Museum of African Art: batik bags and baskets, jewelry, Christmas ornaments made by African artisans
5. Textile Museum: scarves, rugs, bags, jewelry

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