"In the Presence of Spirits"
2000-09-27 until 2000-12-31
Museum for African Art
New York, NY, USA

Sumptuous design and sculptural innovation meet spiritual power in the new exhibition of art from Angola, Mozambique and Guinea Bissau. Culled from the African collections of the National Museum of Ethnology, Lisbon, In the Presence of Spirits features approximately 140 objects endowed with spiritual or secular power. Ranging from masks and intricately carved combs, pipes and staffs used during initiation rituals, to impressive chairs com- missioned for chiefs from the Songo and Ovimbundu peoples, many of the objects in the exhibition will be on public view in the United States for the first time.

Showcasing a selection of the finest pieces from the Portuguese museum, highlights include important ancestral figures from various Kongo peoples, an extraordinary ensemble of stone funerary figures from the Solongo and Mbali, and a spectacular group of carvings from the Bidjogo peoples -- from monumental masks representing sharks, buffaloes and birds, to delicately finished figural spoons. Other impressive objectscome from Chokwe, Songo, Yaka, Nkanu, Zombo, Suku, Matapa,and Ngangela peoples, as well as the Dan from Ivory Coast; the Baga from Guinea; and the Fang from Gabon.

Following its premiere at the Museum for African Art in New York from September 27 - December 31, 2000, the exhibition will travel to three other American venues: the Flint Institute of Arts in Flint, Michigan; the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, D.C.; and, the Birmingham Museum of Art in Birmingham, Alabama. The exhibition will be accompanied by a four-color catalogue, published by the Museum for African Art in both English and Portuguese language.

IMAGE:
Mask: Chipepa. Matapa, or Kongo-Dinga peoples,
Canzar, Lunda Norte province, Angola.
Burlap cloth, twig frame, feathers, fiber, pigment.
H. 82 cm.

Related Links:

Indepth Arts Resources for the State of New York

Other Important Exhibitions in New York