Student Symposium 2000
Institutionalizing Cultures

Abstracts

Wendy Koenig
koenig.57@osu.edu
The Ohio State University
"Africa Expands: African Diaspora artists in the American Museum"
This paper will discuss two recent museum exhibits that included contemporary work by artists of the African Diaspora and will compare the reception of these works in relation to the types of institutions in which they were displayed. The first was held at the American Museum of Natural History in New York between April 25, 1998 and January 31, 1999 and was entitled Spirits in Steel: The Art of the Kalabari Masquerade. This exhibit featured sculptural works in steel by the Nigerian-born, London-based artist Sokari Douglas Camp which were created in London but based upon events related to the artist's African heritage, namely the masquerades of the Kalabari people of Nigeria. Because of the location of this exhibit, it must be considered in relation to the history of display techniques which have been used within the "natural history" museum context for objects from the African continent, ranging from cabinets of curiosity to dioramas to the gallery-style presentation of isolated objects. With this issue in mind, one might ask why the work of a contemporary artist who is internationally recognized as such would be shown in a "natural history" museum setting that is typically associated with displays of specimens from the plant and animal kingdoms? Furthermore, if these sculptures are understood as examples of a "culture," then of which is Camp a representative? The Kalabari of Nigeria, the African Diaspora artistic community in London, or some combination of groups? Why was the American Museum of Natural History interested in mounting such an exhibit: to expand the parameters of what is considered appropriate subject matter for their museum or to create a modern day "diorama" that employs contemporary artistic interpretations of traditional African objects and activities?

The second exhibit was SENSATION: Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection, held between October 2, 199 and January 9, 2000 at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. This show included a work by Chris Ofili, a London-based artist of Nigerian heritage, entitled The Holy Virgin Marywhich received a great deal of media coverage due, in part, to Mayor Giuliani's negative reaction to the piece. Because the image includes balls of elephant dung, a Virgin with dark skin and "African" facial features and floating "wings" that were actually cut-outs of female buttocks from sex magazines, Giuliani described it as offensive to the Catholic religion and threatened to evict the museum. Ofili, born of Yoruba-speaking Nigerian parents in Manchester, England, was raised as an altar boy and considers himself a Catholic. His work often explores issues of identity in relation to his African heritage, the phenomenon of hero worship and popular culture, especially "blaxploitation" images. Although it might initially seem more possible to freely "construct" one's identity through art in an "art" rather than "natural history" venue, in this instance it was Ofili, rather than Camp, who encountered more resistance. On the other hadn, it was also Ofili, rather than Camp, who contributed a work which addresses the complexity of the African Diaspora experience and the self-conscious nature of identity construction.

The Museé Permanent des Colonies exalted the mission civilsatrice of five centuries of French colonialism such as the French expansion after the crusades, the "exoticism" in French art and literature, and the purported economic and social "humanitarian" role of France in the world. Once the struggles for independence of France's colonial territories began, the museum's change of to the Musée des arts d'Afrique et d'Oceanie, became symptomatic of a necessary redefinition of their agenda. The museum then attempted to recognize the different civilizations and artistic production of the previously colonized territories and their influence upon modern European art. Interestingly, many of the proposed changes and renovations were never actually completed and the collection still groups African and Asian art together which is a clear legacy of the colonial administration of those regions. However, what truly stands out in this respect is the relationship of the aquarium of tropical fish in the basement to the art collections upstairs. My paper will highlight the problematic conflations of art an animal life that still epitomize the colonialist imagination that gave rise to the museum in the first place.

The museum exemplifies the process whereby colonial institutions are transformed in an attempt to better engage with the changing circumstances of the post-war era. It is a "place of memory" that offers a microcosmic gaze of the global realignments of France in the twentieth-century, above all marked by the loss of the French empire. Yet, it is also a "place of erasure" to the extend that its post-colonial mutations attempted to establish a radical break with the past that twas never culminated, leaving in its wake a half-hazard-decolonized museum. In this sense, the museum materializes the problematic crux of colonial continuities under post-colonial guises and a wider crisis of national identification beyond an imperial subjectivity.

During the 1980's, she began her career in the San Francisco Bay area as a commercial photographer, doing promotional materials for many of the Native American organizations in the area. Encouraged by friends who are professional artists and curators, she began to create photographic collages for the fine art field. Many of her earlier images have centered on the contrasting images of Native Americans in modern society: how they have been historically portrayed as a "vanishing race" by Euro-Americans opposed with the reality of Native American life an its continued existence today. Her collaged images combine the romanticized historic images of Native Americans and juxtapose them with her own images of contemporary Native Americans to expose and then deconstruct false perceptions. However, while these early works embraced the vitality of contemporary Native life and were principally intended for Native viewers, the audiences for the exhibitions she was now part of were predominantly non-Native. Her sarcastic use of contemporary Native stereotypes in juxtaposition with 'ethnographic' images often lead non-Natives to misinterpret the images and thereby reinforce these stereotypes. At the same time, certain nuances of her messages were reliant on the intricacies of Native thought and culture which furthered the misinterpretation of the image, or turned non-Native audiences away from even trying to interpret them.

More recently, her works have become more direct and blunt in their messages, often for the benefit of the non-Native audience. Tsinhnahjinnie has continued to collage photographic elements, now digitally, but has streamlined the imagery for quick recognition by non-Natives. She still uses 'ethnographic' and stereotyped images, but now they are combined with historical images and photographs from non-Native popular culture. This combination entices the viewer with a ready sense of recognition, while Tsinhnahjinnie's humor and sarcasm in the juxtaposition of the images quickly confront the viewer with questions of identity, cultural survival, and sovereignty. Once the viewer has been lulled into a sense of easy recognition, Tsinhnahjinnie confronts them with an image so simple and straightforward it begs for an easy interpretation. Yet there is not one without a thorough understanding of Native history, thought, and culture: the viewer is forced to recognize the artist's, and by extension all Native Americans', authority to assign content and meaning with an image dealing with Native Americans and their cultures.

While one can look to the beliefs and worldviews of a given culture in order to understand the meaning of its art; one can also examine art as a way of determining a given society's worldviews. By examining how the Inca chose to highlight objects and sites, this paper will explore the possible cultural significance of the Inca aesthetic of framing as it relates to architecture and urban planning. This investigation is limited to four sites: Cuzco, Qenqo, Huánuco Pampa and Machu Picchu, chosen for their variety of state and religious functions as well as for their unmistakable examples of framing.

Both Cuzco and Huánuco Pampa appear to have been great administrative centers. As such, framing examples at these places served to highlight the importance and power of the Inca ruler. For example, ushnu platforms, used only by Inca rulers, were framed by central plazas as well as by entire cities. Qenqo and Machu Picchu, however, appear to have been major sacred centers. Framing examples at these places would have highlighted the juxtaposition of humans and gods by taking the form of low-lying walls surrounding outcrops, fenestrated openings revealing natural landscapes, and monuments echoing the shapes of the surrounding natural world. These findings would suggest that framing within the Inca aesthetic vocabulary took on particular forms in relation to specific functions. Investigating Inca examples of framing, may, therefore, provide deeper meanings for sites already excavated, as well as for those yet to be unearthed.

Kinsey Katchka
Indiana University
"Exhibiting 'The Popular': Urban Cultures and Transnationalism in Postcolonial West Africa"
Abstract not available

Back>>

Bios of symposium organizers>>