Skip to main content

African Reflections: Art from Northeastern Zaire (Exhibition)

 Organization

Dates

  • Existence: 1990 June 8 - 1991 January 6

Summary

Exhibition. Opened June 8, 1990 and closed January 6, 1991. Located in Section 3, Floor 3 in Gallery 3 at the American Museum of Natural History. African Reflections: Art from Northeastern Zaire, curated by Enid Schildkrout and Curtis A. Keim of the Museum's Department of Anthropology, focused on the art history of the region from the time of the first encounters with Europeans, through the colonial period to the present and drew primarily from material collected on the American Museum Congo Expedition (1909-1915).

Historical Note

African Reflections: Art from Northeastern Zaire, curated by Enid Schildkrout and Curtis A. Keim of the Museum's Department of Anthropology, focused on the art history of the region from the time of the first encounters with Europeans, through the colonial period to the present and drew primarily from material collected on the American Museum Congo Expedition (1909-1915). The American Museum Congo Expedition was led by mammalogist and photographer Herbert Lang and ornithologist and painter James P. Chapin. The exhibition traced the origins of the Mangbetu-style of art from the mid-nineteenth century to the present and explored the cultural and linguistic groups of the area including the Mangbetu, Azande, Barambo, and Mbuti. The exhibition was supported in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the Ambrose Monell Foundation. After closing at the American Museum of Natural History, the exhibition traveled to the National Museum of African Art, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., the Denver Art Museum in Denver, CO, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, GA, and the San Diego Museum of Art in San Diego, CA (1).

Members of the Museum's Department of Exhibition who worked on the exhibition included exhibit designer Clifford La Fontaine and conservator Judith Levinson (8).

Related programming included (1; 2):

* Film screening, Spirit of Defiance: The Mangbeti People of Zaire

* Film screening, Witchcraft Among the Azande, The Magic Tree: A Story from the Congo

* Film screening, Baka: People of the Rainforest

* Family Weekend Theater Program, "Azapane and the Peanuts"

* Lecture, "Myths Out of Africa" with "Images of Central Africa" by John Mack

* Lecture, "African Imagery in Western Myths" by Curtis A. Keim

* Lecture, "Myths and Museums" by Enid Schildkrout

* Lecture, "Life as an Efe Pygmy: Myth-conceptions and Myth representation," by David Wilke

* Dance performance, Professor Yaa-lengi and his African Contempo Band

* Dance performance, Malaki Ma-Kongo: Songs and Dance of the Congo

* Symposium, "Tradition, Innovation, and Interpretation: Issues in the Collection and Display of the Arts of Zaire in Historical Perspective"

* Gallery talks

Highlights including over 450 artifacts from the American Museum Congo Expedition (1909-1915) (1; 3; 4; 5):

* Photographs by Herbert Lang documenting the expedition

* A 15-minute film of Zaire made in 1989 specially for the exhibition

* A life-sized mannequin of King Mbunza, late nineteenth century Mangbetu ruler

* Mangbetu wooden harp with resonator and pangolin scales

* Barambo wooden slit drum

* Mangbetu ivory and wooden harp with okapi fur

* Azande sanza with woman's figure

* Azande hat with cane loops and white feathers

* Meje charm with duiker (small antelope) horn, vertebrae and porcupine tails

* Mangbetu chief's brass knife

This is a condensed summary of the exhibition. For additional information, see Sources and/or Related Resources.

Sources

(1) American Museum of Natural History. African Reflections: Art from Northeastern Zaire. (New York: American Museum of Natural History [1990]) [brochure]

(2) American Museum of Natural History. Press Release. "Media Advisory: 'The Drum, the How, and the Forest': Films on Central Africa." May 23, 1990. Departmental Records, DR 101. American Museum of Natural History Library.

(3) American Museum of Natural History. Press Release. "Media Advisory/Photo Opportunity." May 17, 1990. Departmental Records, DR 101. American Museum of Natural History Library.

(4) American Museum of Natural History. Press Release. "Museum Programs & Exhibitions, July-December 1990." May 31, 1990. Departmental Records, DR 101. American Museum of Natural History Library.

(5) American Museum of Natural History. Press Release. "Slide Sheet." May 7, 1990. Departmental Records, DR 101. American Museum of Natural History Library.

(6) American Museum of Natural History. Annual Report. New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1989-1990.

(7) American Museum of Natural History. Annual Report. New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1990-1991.

(8) "Making the Monarch." New York City Tribune, May 24, 1990.

For more information on this exhibition see:

Lambert, Pam. "Art from the Heart of Africa." Wall Street Journal, June 15, 1990.

Reif, Rita. "Artifacts From Africa Show the Shape of a People." New York Times, July 1, 1990.

Shepard, Richard F. "Out of Black Africa, Views of a Varied Life and Culture." New York Times, June 8, 1990.

Topics

Found in 4 Collections and/or Records:

African Reflections #3, 1990

 Item
Identifier: EXH.003 AV-089
Scope and Contents "African Reflections" III. Family and Everyday Life. Songs performed for entertainment during daily tasks. About the Music: The songs heard in this section are performed for entertainment and to accompany the tasks and events of everyday life. 1. Mangbetu song with sanza; 2. Mangbetu song with musical bow; 3. Mangbetu girls' song; 4. Mamvu song sung while carrying officials in a sedan chair; harp, sanza, bells, and basket rattle; 5. Mangbetu retreat song, formerly sung before and after...
Dates: Copyright: 1990

African Reflections: Art from Northeastern Zaire exhibition photographic slides

 Collection
Identifier: PSC 103G
Scope and Contents

Views of the temporary exhibition African Reflections: Art from Northeastern Zaire, held at the American Museum of Natural History, 1990-1991. Includes artifacts in display cases and wall graphics.

Dates: circa 1990

African Reflections book photographic slides

 Collection
Identifier: PSC 19
Scope and Contents

Photographic slides (archive and artifact) from the book "African Reflections" by Enid Schildkrout.

Dates: 1984-1985