Creative Africa

When:
Saturday, May 14, 2016 10:00a -
Sunday, Sep 25, 2016 5:00p

Where:
Philadelphia Museum of Art
2600 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy
Philadelphia, PA 19130

EventScheduled OfflineEventAttendanceMode

Admission:
$20

Categories:
Art

Event website:
http://www.philamuseum.org/exhibitions/838.html

Creative Africa: May 14, 2016 - September 25, 2016


Innovation and tradition come together in a celebration of African art and design in the Perelman Building.


From contemporary photography, fashion, and architecture to centuries-old sculpture, Creative Africa presents the visionary work of artists throughout Africa. At the heart of the season is Look Again: Contemporary Perspectives on African Art, a major exhibition drawn from the Penn Museum’s distinguished African collection.


Creative Africa also boasts a dynamic schedule of programs, artist talks, family festivals, and community conversations. Highlights include a dance party with Liberian singer Fatu Gayflor and Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars, the family favorite Art Splash, and performances by award-winning dancer and choreographer Nora Chipaumire.


Share your experience @philamuseum #CreativeAfrica


Exhibitions


Look Again: Contemporary Perspectives on African Art
May 14–December 4, 2016
Special Exhibitions Gallery
Gain a fresh perspective on Africa’s rich artistic heritage in this selection of works from the world-renowned collections of the Penn Museum. This engaging presentation includes a compelling variety of art created in West and Central Africa from the 1500s to the 1900s, including carved ivories and bronze altar objects from the kingdom of Benin, Kongo power figures, Kuba woven textiles and wood vessels, Akan gold weights, Kota reliquary figures, and more.


Three Photographers/Six Cities
April 30–September 25, 2016
Julien Levy Gallery
Get a street-level view of six African cities—Cairo, Nairobi, Lagos, Johannesburg, Bamako, and Tombouctou—through the work of three extraordinary African photographers. From Akinbode Akinbiyi’s careful observation of urban centers and Ananias Léki Dago’s offbeat scenes of Nairobi, Johannesburg, and Bamako, to Seydou Camara’s examination of endangered Islamic manuscripts in Mali, the images in this exhibition offer unique perspectives on contemporary African experience.


Vlisco: African Fashion on a Global Stage
April 30, 2016–January 22, 2017
Joan Spain Gallery
Discover how the Dutch company Vlisco became one of the most influential textile brands in West and Central African fashion and a design inspiration around the world. Known for its bold and colorful patterns, Vlisco creates fabrics that marry tradition with luxury. This exhibition explores the company’s most enduring designs, follows the creation of a new textile, and showcases a selection of contemporary fashions by African and European makers as well as Vlisco’s in-house design team.


The Architecture of Francis Kéré: Building for Community
May 14–September 25, 2016
Collab Gallery and the Skylit Atrium
Immerse yourself in a site-specific environment designed by acclaimed Burkinabe architect Francis Kéré. This exhibition sheds light on Kéré’s inventive approach to building, which views local expertise and materials as well as collective input as invaluable resources. In addition to sculpted spaces for visitors to gather, reflect, and converse, this exhibition offers a retrospective of Kéré’s award-winning projects, including a simple yet elegant design for a school in a remote village in Burkina Faso.


Threads of Tradition
April 30, 2016–January 2017
Costume and Textiles Study Gallery
Admire the dazzling patterns of traditional African textiles and uncover the techniques used to achieve them. This exhibition highlights a selection of West and Central African textiles acquired by the Museum in the last fifteen years as well as loans from the Penn Museum. Among the works on view are exquisite examples of kente cloth, vibrant Asante and Ewe textiles worn as a sign of wealth and prestige.


Programming Highlights


Creative Africa Dance Party
Friday, May 13, 2016
Great Stair Hall, main building
Help us celebrate Creative Africa at this Art After 5 dance party. Enjoy the “golden voice of Liberia,” Fatu Gayflor, who opens the night at 5:45 p.m. with African pop sounds. Then stick around for a performance featuring the infectious and joyful music of Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars, a band that has toured extensively to raise awareness for humanitarian causes.


Art Splash
July 1–September 5, 2016
Perelman Building Galleries and Skylit Atrium
This summer the Perelman Building will once again be transformed into an exciting destination for kids and their grown-ups with Art Splash, presented by PNC Arts Alive. All ages are invited to explore Creative Africa through interactive gallery activities, studio art creations, imaginative play, and Pay What You Wish family festivals. Don’t forget—Museum admission for kids twelve and under is always free.


Dancer Nora Chipaumire
September 23–24, 2016
Perelman Building Terrace
A Zimbabwean-born dancer based in Brooklyn, Nora Chipaumire will take part in a weeklong artist residency at the Museum. In two culminating performances, offered in conjunction with the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, Chipaumire presents Portrait of myself as my father with Senegalese dancer Kaolacka. Each performance features a “talk-back” component with the audience, encouraging visitors to engage directly with the artist.

Share this event

Add to:

Reddit
05/14/2016 10:00:00 09/25/2016 17:00:00 America/New_York Creative Africa Creative Africa: May 14, 2016 - September 25, 2016 Innovation and tradition come together in a celebration of African art and design in the Perelman Building. From contemporary photography, f... Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA 19130 false MM/DD/YYYY

Sponsored events