Each diverse work of art comes from the permanent collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art. Beginning in 2012, the museum launched the Women’s Initiative Fund to increase the profile of Africa’s women in the arts through exhibitions, publications, acquisitions, and strategic partnerships globally. This exhibition is one result, as is the overall increase from 11 to 22 percent of the number of women artists in the museum’s permanent collection.
To recommend other valuable resources advocating for Africa’s women in the arts, to make a contribution to this initiative, or to share your own story using the social media hashtags @IAMnmafa and #IAMnmafa.
Other initiatives
The Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives (EEPA), National Museum of African Art, is working on Pioneering Women Photographers in Africa, 1930s—1970s. In support of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative, the project will digitize and describe 14 collections created by women photographers in Africa! To learn more, click here
I Am . . . Contemporary Women Artists of Africa is made possible by the Women’s Initiative, which is generously supported by Edward P. Bass and Sasha Camacho, Nancy McElroy Folger, Miyoung Lee, Paul Neely, the Sakana Foundation, Patty Stonesifer and Michael Kinsley, and Ronda Stryker and William D. Johnston. Additional support for textile conservation provided by the Coby Foundation.
art is not necessarily an elitist activity