Q3 Experience Post

The guest speaker of this quarter was Karen Getty, the Senior Tour Services Coordinator and Educator for the African Collection at the VMFA. As a Senior Tour Services Coordinator, Karen oversees a team of 3 staff members to help teach volunteers how to lead tours among other tasks. The VMFA was founded in 1936, but didn't show interest in collecting non western art until the 1960s. The African Art Department was founded in 1976. It is important to note that Africa is very diverse with 54 independent nations, approximately 3,000 different ethnic groups, and over 2,000 languages. Africa is over 3x the size of the United States! Because of this, it is important to note that within African art there exists a lot of diversity. Traditional/historical African art is functional and often relates to phases of the life cycle. At the Berlin Conference (1884-85), white Europeans claimed what parts of Africa they wanted, forming boundaries that overlapped the pre-existing divisions of Africa. These new boundaries forced together and apart cultural groups. Because of this, African art is categorized by culture rather than nation or political boundaries.

The portion of the presentation that I found particularly interesting was the thinking behind the exhibition layout. Richard Woodward was the founding curator of African Art at the VMFA. He built the collection from the ground up, collecting his first piece in 1977. The current installation was reinstalled in 2011. Two of the masks are over 14 ft tall, which is why the installation is located in the area of the museum with the tallest ceilings. These are the pieces from the gallery that I am most excite to see in person. In one of the areas of the gallery, the cases are intentionally arranged in a diamond shape. This is to represent the Dikenga, which represents the four moments of the sun. The piece at each point of the diamond represents part of the life cycle. Woodward retired recently, and the new curator is Dr. Nbuisi Ezeluomba, who specializes in Nigerian art.