Soon after the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake, first lady of Haiti Elisabeth D. Préval called on Haitian artist Philippe Dodard and his fellow artists, as well as psychologists, educators and politicians, to create a safe place for children to express their feelings through art. Nearly 100 paintings and drawings created by Haiti's young people at Plas Timoun (The Children's Place) are featured in "The Healing Power of Art: Works of Art by Haitian Children after the Earthquake."

The exhibition will be on view in the concourse of the Smithsonian's S. Dillon Ripley Center, 1100 Jefferson Drive S.W., from June 17 to Feb. 27, 2011. It is sponsored by the National Museum of African Art.

"Grass Roots: African Origins of an American Art," a traveling exhibition that tells the story of the beautiful coiled basket, will be on view at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art from June 23 through Nov. 28. "Grass Roots" demonstrates the enduring contribution of African people and culture to American life in the southeastern United States.

The exhibit features about 200 objects, including baskets made in Africa and the American South, African sculptures, paintings from the Charleston Renaissance, historic photography and videos. It traces the history of the coiled basket on two continents and shows how a simple farm tool once used for processing rice has become a work of art and an important symbol of African-American identity.

Artful Animals, an exhibition dedicated to young audiences, explores how African artists create striking works of art using images from an array of domestic and untamed animals. From rock art to contemporary painting, audiences will discover animals used as symbols of royal arts, in masquerades for the ancestors and others rarely seen. Many of the elements of design are derived through direct observation of the animals in their natural habitat. It is the animal's conduct and distinct behaviors that carry the messages in performances, stories and proverbs. The approximately 125 works capture not only the physical characteristics of animals but also the many ways that animals, from spiders to leopards, act out our human shortcomings and successes. Themes include notions of nurturing, power, wisdom, transformation, beauty and aggression.

The National Museum of African Art is collaborating with Smithsonian education units at the National Zoological Park, National Postal Museum, National Museum of Natural History and Discovery Theater. Each partner site will feature a host of multidisciplinary activities.
The programming project has been supported by the Smithsonian School Programming Fund.

This exhibition explores the visual cultures and histories of Mami Wata, examining the world of water deities and their seductive powers. It demonstrates how art both reflects and actively contributes to beliefs and religious practices, globalization, and capitalism. Most of all, it reveals the potency of images and ideas to shape the lives of people, communities, and societies.

Mami Wata: Arts for Water Spirits in Africa and the African Atlantic World was organized and produced by the Fowler Museum at UCLA and guest curated by Dr. Henry Drewal. It was made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, promoting excellence in the humanities.

For 30 years, Xavier Guerrand-Hermès of the renowned Paris-based fashion empire collected both stunning North African jewelry and historic late 19th- and early 20th-century photographs by some of the region's most prominent photographers. Highlights from the collection will begin a national tour at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art on Oct. 8. "Desert Jewels: North African Jewelry and Photography from the Xavier Guerrand-Hermès Collection," will continue through Jan. 11, 2009, before traveling to several other venues.

The exhibition and national tour are organized by the Museum for African Art in New York and sponsored by Merrill Lynch.

Textiles are powerful communicators of status, gender and accomplishments in Africa. The extraordinary costumes and textiles of the African continent--from ensembles to wrappers to wall hangings to chain mail and accessories/hats--featured in an exhibition drawn from the National Museum of African Art's collection, present a wide array of Africa's textile arts that have seldom or never been on exhibit.

The Art of Being Tuareg examines the historic and evolving culture and arts of the Tuareg peoples of Mali, Niger and Algeria. Approximately 250 works—from private collections as well as national and international public collections—feature a range of artistic genres and media dating from the 19th century to the present. The exhibition was organized by the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University and the Fowler Museum at UCLA.

This is the first comprehensive exhibition to address the interface between African art and the communicative power of graphic systems, language and the written word.

Approximately 80 works, dating from ancient to modern times, represent the ingenuity and creativity of African artists who incorporate script and graphic forms of communication into a wide range of artworks, including everyday and ritual objects, religious painting, talismans, leadership arts, popular arts and photography. The exhibition will be on view at the UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History Oct. 14, 2007, to Feb. 17, 2008.

Urhobo: Where Gods and Mortals Meet
Continuity and Renewal in Urhobo Art
June 23—September 25, 2005

Gifts and Blessings: Textile Arts of Madagascar
April 14–September 2, 2002

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