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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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