National Museum of African Art

Coordinates: 38°53′17″N 77°01′32″W / 38.8879941°N 77.0254676°W / 38.8879941; -77.0254676

National Museum of African Art
Location in Washington, D.C.
Established	1964
Location	Washington D.C., United States
Visitor figures	322,000 (2008)[1]
Director	Johnnetta B. Cole[1]
Website	http://www.nmafa.si.edu/

The National Museum of African Art is an African art museum located in Washington, D.C., United States. The museum is one of nineteen under the wing of the Smithsonian Institution. The museum, which was started in 1964, was originally located at the Frederick Douglass House in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, D.C. In 1979 the museum was transferred over to the Smithsonian and relocated to the National Mall. It opened in its current location, underground in the quadrangle complex behind the Smithsonian Institution Building, in 1987.

History

In 1964, Warren M. Robbins founded the Museum of African Art.^[2] It was a privately funded African art museum at the Frederick Douglass House, in Washington, D.C.^[3] Robbins owned the building.^[4] Robbins, who was a former American Foreign Services officer, was the first museum director. The museum showcased traditional African art and had educational programs about African art and culture.^[3] The museum consisted of nine row homes with twelve galleries, a library and a small auditorium.^[5] Robbins, who collected African art while overseas serving, sought to "foster an understanding African art in the U.S."^[4] The museum grew to have a annual budget of $900,000. Robbins and staff approached the government in 1976 asking the Smithsonian Institution to acquire the museum.^[4]

On October 5, 1978, the Smithsonian Institution was approved, by the United States Congress, to acquire the museum.^[3] The transfer ended on August 13, 1979.^[3][6] Approximately eight thousand objects were transferred to the Smithsonian. In 1981 the museum was renamed the National Museum of African Art.^[7]

Two years later, in 1986, the house was sold and the collections were transferred to the Smithsonian at the National Mall. The museum opened in the quadrangle complex behind the Smithsonian Institution Building on September 28, 1987.^[3][8] That same month, a donation of $200,000 was given by an anonymous donor to the museum. On behalf of the donation, the museum library was renamed the Warren M. Robbins Library.^[9] Sylvia H. Williams became the director of the museum in 1983, making the museum the first Smithsonian museum to have a female director.^[4][10] She retained her position as director until her death in 1996.^[10][11] After Williams death, assistant director Patricia L. Fiske stepping in as acting director.^[12] Art historian and curator Roslyn Walker was named director on January 15, 1997 and Fiske returned to her role as assistant director.^[12][13] Sharon Patton also served as director.^[14]

The current museum director is Johnnetta B. Cole.^[1][15] As of 2009, the museum's budget was approximately $6 million.^[1]

Architecture

The National Museum of African Art is located in the quadrangle complex on the grounds of the National Mall behind the Smithsonian Institution Building. It shares the complex space with the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and the S. Dillon Ripley International Center.^[3] Congress contributed $960,000 to fund the building of the complex.^[16] Groundbreaking for the quadrangle took place on June 21, 1983.^[17] The complex, designed by Jean Paul Carlhian, is ninety-six percent underground with the Enid A. Haupt Garden as its rooftop. The museum, gallery and center are connected via underground tunnels. The underground buildings have design elements which were inspired by the Smithsonian Institution Building, the Freer Gallery of Art and the Arts and Industries Building.^[3]

Collections

Exhibits Specialist Steve Smith placing a plexiglass case over an artifact in the museum. 1987.

When the National Museum of African Art was first transferred to the Smithsonian the collection consisted of approximately eight thousand objects.^[3] Today, the museum holds approximately 9,000 objects.^[1] The museum's collection is the largest publicly held collection of African art in the United States. The museum is given approximately sixty-seven gifts per year.^[5] When the museum was located at the Frederick Douglass townhome, it exhibited nineteeth-century paintings created by black artists, objects once owned by Frederick Douglass, and some loaned African art pieces.^[5] The current collection consists of musical instruments, sculpture, jewelry, regalia, textiles, early maps, educational materials, a library, and films, slides and photographs. The Warren H. Robbins Library houses more than 32,000 volumes about African art and culture.^[3] In 1996, the Washington Post stated that "there is no more important research facility in America for the study of African art."^[18]

The Walt-Disney Tishman collection consists of 500 photographs, textiles, pottery, sculptures, jewelry and paintings from throughout Africa.^[5][1] The collection was acquired in 2005.^[1] Photographer Eliot Eliosfon donated approximately 300,000 photographs and 12,000 feet of film footage on Africa.^[5] The collection includes photographs by Walker Evans.^[18]

Exhibitions

Exhibitions at the museum focus around African art and culture. Exhibitions are designed in house and are also brought in from other organizations. Early exhibitions were held at the museums first home, the Frederick Douglas house located in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington. Ethiopia: The Christian Art of an African Nation, was held in 1984.^[19] The last exhibition held at the house was A Human Ideal in African Art/Bamana Figurative Sculpture.^[20] After the museum moved to its current location, its exhibition space was broken up by African regions: Western Sudan, Guinea Coast, Cameroon, Ogowe River Basin, Lower Congo, Northeastern Zaire, the eastern Congo Basin, and southern and eastern Africa.^[4]

In the winter of 1997 the museum explored the importance of adinkra cloth in the exhibition A King and His Cloth: Asantehene Agyeman Prempeh I.^[21] Mami Wata made an appearance in the 2009 exhibition Mami Wata: Arts for Water Spirits in Africa and Its Diasporas.^[22]

In Spring of 2012, Lalla Essaydi was the focus of the solo exhibition: Lalla Essaydi: Revisions. The exhibition showcased Essaydi's photographs of herself and other Moroccan women to help fight stereotypes of Middle Eastern women.^[23]

Mission

The Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art fosters the discovery and appreciation of the visual arts of Africa, the cradle of humanity.^[24]

Outreach

Joan Mondale playing the drums after a press conference at the museum with, (l-r), Rep. Lindy Boggs, Rep. Walter E. Fauntroy, Warren Robbins and Sen. Wendell Anderson. 1978.

The museum's educational program focuses on educating visitors about African art with objects from the collection and with programming such as lectures and workshops.^[4]

Initiatives

The National Museum of African Art has fostered numerous relationships with other museums in the United States, including the African American Museum in Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. The partnerships aim to improve care of collections and improving exhibitions. The museum has hosted artists in residence and performances by musicians. Every year the museum organizes "Africa Underground," four times a year. The event, developed by director Johnetta Cole, aims to attract new users to the museum. The event takes place in the museum, drawing approximately 800 people, and includes live musical acts playing Afrobeat music, artists, performers and other live entertainment. The event also focuses on a specific part of African culture.^[25]

References

External links

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