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Lalla Essaydi: Revisions
May 9, 2012 - February 24, 2013
Lalla Essaydi's elegant, creative work belies it subversive, challenging nature. Approximately 30 works of diverse media are drawn from each of her photographic series, including the richly hued Silence of Thought and the more widely known Converging Territories and Les Femmes de Maroc. The exhibition also includes a selection of new works, as well as rarely exhibited paintings and installations.
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Artists in Dialogue 2
February 2, 2011--January 8, 2012
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 | The Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art (NMAfA) has organized the exhibition, "Artists in Dialogue: Sandile Zulu and Henrique Oliveira," as the second in a series of exhibitions in which exciting artists (at least one of whom is African) are invited to a new encounter -- one in which each artist responds to the work of the other, and resulting in original, site-specific works at the museum. The exhibition will also include a selection of works by each artist to reflect who they are coming into the encounter, and will be accompanied by a small, full-color publication.
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Brave New World
August 9 -- January 8, 2012
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In Brave New World II Theo Eshetu explores such universal tensions as the relationship between nature and technology and the idea of life as a spectacle. He does so with images that map his personal geography: scenes from a dance performance he filmed at a restaurant in Bali, footage from visits to New York City and Ethiopia, and even a cameo appearance by a box of Kellogg's corn flakes. He collaborated with musician and sound designer Keir Fraser to produce the video's seductive and meditative soundtrack
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Paul Emmanuel Transitions
May 12, 2010--August 22, 2010
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 | South African artist Paul Emmanuel's "Transitions," an installation of five drawings and the critically acclaimed film 3SAI: A Rite of Passage, opened at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art May 12 and continues through Aug. 22.
"Transitions" comprises a series of five ostensibly "photographic" works which, when examined closely, reveal sensitively hand-drawn, photo-realist images on photographic paper. The works contemplate manhood and the transitions an individual goes through in society.
The adjacent video installation explores the liminal moments of transition, when a young man is either voluntarily or forced to let go of one identity and take on a new identity as property of the state. The 14-minute film documents the head shaving of new recruits at the Third South African Infantry Battalion (3SAI) in Kimberley, one of two South African military training camps that still perform the obligatory hair shaving of army recruits joining the South African National Defence Force.
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Yinka Shonibare MBE
November 10 - March 7, 2010
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 | Yinka Shonibare MBE, a mid-career exhibition of the Nigerian-born artist, includes the media of painting, sculpture and installation, photography and moving images. Exhibited works encompass the last 12 years of Shonibare's career with a focus on recent works juxtaposed with historical works. Yinka Shonibare MBE is organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, Australia.
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Artists in Dialogue: António Ole and
Aimé Mpane.
February 4, 2009—August 2, 2009
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 | This exhibition inaugurates a new series in which talented African artists are invited to participate in a dialogue - a visual one in which each artist responds to the work of the other, and resulting in original, site-specific works for the National Museum of African Art. Two artists less familiar to U.S. audiences, António Ole of Angola and Aimé Mpane of Democratic Republic of Congo, will bring their subtle and sophisticated manipulation of found and organic materials to create visually rich, multi-media installations that speak to the political and economic challenges of their home countries. Both artists will visit for approximately two weeks to install and discuss their works, and offer programs in conjunction with D.C. area schools and universities. There will also be a Web podcast.
Organized by Karen Milbourne and sponsored by DeBeers Incorporated
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El Anatsui's Nukae-1
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 | While the artist addresses global ideas about the environment, consumerism and the social history and memory of the "stuff" of our lives, his use of recycled materials also recognizes that human creativity and ingenuity are employed in creating something from available resources, including items that are discarded. The artist's "cloth" works also celebrate the woven and stamped textile traditions that remain vibrant in Ghana and Nigeria today.
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El Anatsui: Gawu
March 12, 2008—September 2, 2008
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 | Throughout his career Ghanaian artist El Anatsui has experimented with a variety of media, including wood, ceramics and paint. Most recently, he has focused upon discarded metal objects, hundreds or even thousands of which are joined together to create truly remarkable works of art. Anatsui indicates that the word gawu (derived from Ewe, his native language) has several potential meanings, including "metal" and "a fashioned cloak." The term therefore manages to encapsulate the medium, process and format of the works on view, reflecting the artist's transformation of discarded materials into objects of striking beauty and originality.
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Body of Evidence (Selections from the Contemporary African Art Collection)
June 14, 2006—December 2, 2007
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 | The museum's commitment to growing its collection of contemporary African art is seen in this display of objects from its permanent collection. This exhibition will showcase works of art that represent the "curator's choice" and will rotate a myriad of objects from different cultures.
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African Art Now: Masterpieces from the Jean Pigozzi Collection
November 16, 2005–February 26, 2006
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The collection of Swiss entrepreneur and photographer Jean Pigozzi, now known as the Contemporary African Art Collection (CAAC), offers a sweeping survey of the brilliant invention of artists throughout the great expanse of sub-Saharan Africa.
African Art Now: Masterpieces from the Jean Pigozzi Collection profiles 28 artists from 15 African countries, all of whom came of age in Africa and maintain close ties to their native countries. No single tradition or method unites these artists. Rather, they reflect the complex heritage of Africa today and respond to both the historic traditions of their local cultures and the new era of international globalism.
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Textures: Word & Symbol in Contemporary African Art
Feburary 11–September 4, 2005
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The interplay of word, image and space creates visual poetry in these contemporary installations. The works employ
text and graphic symbols to tell stories about memory, identity and the power of language. In doing so, they bring
African visual histories into the global debate on conceptualism, which often melds word and image. In diverse ways,
they celebrate the marriage of aesthetic form and literal meaning, play with the ambiguity of text and help us to
consider the active role of the viewer in the "translation" process of "reading" visual images.
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insights
February 27–December, 5 2005
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insights features the work of nine contemporary artists from the museum's collection. By displaying ensembles rather
than individual works, the exhibition reveals the artistic process and the play of experimentation, continuity and
change in each artist's chosen subjects and materials. The artwork on exhibit reflects the collection's strength
in contemporary South African art.
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Ethiopian Passages:
Dialogues in the Diaspora
May 2–December 7, 2003
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While exploring the complexities, diversity and vibrancy of the artistic practices among artists of Ethiopian descent,
Ethiopian Passages: Dialogues in the Diaspora brings together 10 artists, from across several generations, who have
addressed issues of identity, experienced displacement and created new "homelands." Their artworks span the
media—from paintings, mixed media, photography and digital prints to ceramic and papier mâché sculptures,
murals and on-site installations.
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Journeys & Destinations:
African Artists on the Move
January 31–November 30, 2003
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Journeys and Destinations explores the important histories of migration and the negotiations of artistic, cultural,
personal and group identities among African artists who make up the growing and significant diaspora of practicing
artists now living in Europe and America.
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The Last Supper Revisited
January 12–27, 2002
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The installation by South African artist Sue Williamson commemorates District Six, a community in Cape Town, South
Africa, that was razed under apartheid. The artist has set a table for an intimate feast with multiple resin blocks
containing scraps of precious and mundane objects that act as witnesses to and survivors of the racist apartheid laws.
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Encounters with
the Contemporary
January 7, 2001–January 6, 2002
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The National Museum of African Art plays a major role in the collection of contemporary African art in the United States.
The selections from the museum's growing contemporary collection draw attention not only to the rich history and
continuing vitality of modernist artistic practice in Africa but also to the history of the museum's collection and its
future commitments to contemporary arts.
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