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.

Artful Animals, an exhibition dedicated to young audiences, explores how African artists create striking works of art using images from an array of domestic and untamed animals. From rock art to contemporary painting, audiences will discover animals used as symbols of royal arts, in masquerades for the ancestors and others rarely seen. Many of the elements of design are derived through direct observation of the animals in their natural habitat. It is the animal's conduct and distinct behaviors that carry the messages in performances, stories and proverbs. The approximately 125 works capture not only the physical characteristics of animals but also the many ways that animals, from spiders to leopards, act out our human shortcomings and successes. Themes include notions of nurturing, power, wisdom, transformation, beauty and aggression.

The National Museum of African Art is collaborating with Smithsonian education units at the National Zoological Park, National Postal Museum, National Museum of Natural History and Discovery Theater. Each partner site will feature a host of multidisciplinary activities.
The programming project has been supported by the Smithsonian School Programming Fund.

Donated to the museum in 2005, the Walt Disney-Tishman collection is known for its unique and rare works of traditional African art from throughout sub-Saharan Africa. The collection has been instrumental in defining the field of African art history in the United States and abroad.

The beauty and richness of Africa's pottery resonates through the traditional and modern ceramic works of art collected by the National Museum of African Art. Examples of the museum´s contemporary and tradional ceramic works from different regions of the continent are on view throughout the museum.

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