Wake-Forest-University-Winston-Salem-North-Carolina

Wake-Forest University at African Antiques

African Art
objects, masks and statues for sale...

Sint Katelijnevest 27. B2000 ANTWERPEN-Belgium. Tel +32 3 227 35 40

Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina present an African art show.

Spirit Influences on the Arts of Power: The David and Karina Rilling Collection of African Art

African exhibit to open at WFU’s Anthropology Museum

A private liberal arts university. In the Museum of Anthropology in Winston-Salem, North Carolina : Through May 21: "Spirit Influences on the Arts of Power: The David and Karina Rilling Collection of African Art." Phone: 758-5282. Located behind the Kentner Stadium on the Wake Forest University Reynolda Campus. Closed on Monday and Sunday.

Open February 11, 2005 - May 21, 2005

By Pam Barrett 336.758.5237 January 25, 2005

Spirit Influences on the Arts of Power

The David and Karina Rilling Collection of African Art” will open Feb. 11 at Wake Forest University’s Museum of Anthropology. The exhibit, which explores how objects connected to the spirit world become essential to governing and decision-making in African societies, will run through May 21.

The exhibit includes more than 40 African objects donated to the museum by David Rilling, a Pennsylvania physician and art collector, and his wife, Karina. The exhibit features objects associated with kingship from Cameroon and Ghana, including a brass throne and beaded crowns, as well as West and Central African objects related to ancestral leadership, such as masks and power figures serving as intermediaries between the living and the dead.

Three free public lectures are also scheduled in association with the exhibit. Simeon Ilesanmi, associate professor of religion at Wake Forest, will present “The Importance of the Ancestral and Spiritual Worlds in the Control and Legitimization of Authority in African Kingdoms” at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 17.

On March 15 at 7:30 p.m., Yomi Durotoye, senior lecturer of political science at Wake Forest, will discuss Yoruba art and the questions that arise from defining African art as either “traditional” or “contemporary.”

On April 20, Victor Archibong, professor of political science at Greensboro College, will present “Traditional Political Structure in African Societies.”

The Museum of Anthropology is open 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. For more information, call (336) 758-5282 or visit http://www.wfu.edu/moa/

Dear reader,

Related on the exhibition in Salem I asked myself some questions:

Can spirit influence the “Arts of power” in Africa or is it the powerful Arts that give the power? Is there a relation between the quality of the carving and the power of the statue, or is it only the “spirit” inside the statue that gives the power? Do you see any relation in our society? Do you think that having some African Power figures in your collection gives you “powers”, or is it not related? Does the statue loose it power when included in a Western collection or Museum? Can a contemporary art work inspired by the African traditions have the same powers as an old one? Does a modern “copy” inspired by the old pieces have some power? Or is it the idea that it might be genuine, that makes it important? Does a sculpture loose powers when it comes out of Africa?

Are the powers associated with the sculpture, or is it the “ceremony offerings” that gives “powers” to the statues? Or is it all in the peoples mind?

As a dealer I have of course my personal answers to these questions. But I would like especially those of you having a collection home to answer. I would also like to compare the answers with the African people in the group, who still have some contacts with African tribes. And also compare it with the views of “Museum and Anthropology people”.

Please answer after joining in our discussion group at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AfricanAntiques

Thanks for your participation,

David Norden