Holy Cross’ Cantor Art Gallery to Hold Series of Lectures on African Art

WORCESTER, Mass. – The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery at the College of the Holy Cross will present a series of lectures in conjunction with the exhibit Art of Africa: Objects from the Collection of Warren Robbins, on view from Jan. 27 – Mar. 31.

Feb. 17, 5 – 6 p.m., Cantor Art Gallery Anonymous Doesn't Live Here Anymore: The African Artist in Historical Perspective Jean M. Borgatti, art history research associate, Clark University

Because the conventions of art in 19th-century Africa differed from those in 19th-century Europe, it was difficult for Europeans to recognize expressive objects as art, and by extension those who made them as artists. This talk looks at individuality in traditional works of art (and how we are not encouraged to see this in standard museum exhibits) and examines specific African cultural ideas about the artist and about creativity in their historical context.

March 2, 5 – 6 p.m., Cantor Art Gallery Masks, Brands, and Fakes: Performing Public Secrecy and Citizenship in Côte d'Ivoire Alexander F. Newell, assistant professor of anthropology, Holy Cross

Newell will consider the ways in which consumer brands resemble masking practices, concealing even as they reveal, using the visible to both hide and represent the invisible. Masks and brands both metaphorically delineate an invisible connection to authenticity, but the secrecy of what lies beneath the masked performance provides an unstable ambiguity in which it is always possible that the surface IS that which it represents. He will also examine how these performances relate to the problematic and dangerous reinterpretations of national identity in contemporary Côte d'Ivoire, which have destabilized the country.

March 15, 5 – 6 p.m., Cantor Art Gallery African Art and the West or from Curiosity Cabinet to Museum Jean M. Borgatti, art history research associate, Clark University

African Art is viewed quite differently in 2010, than it was in 1910, 1810 or 1710. Borgatti will examine how changes in perspective relate to increased contact over time, and how changes in Western art (provoked in part by African works) enhance understanding of both the African context and our Western prejudices.

All lectures are cosponsored by the Cantor Art Gallery and the African Studies Program.