
A fountain inspired by the enchanting architecture of Morocco resides at the center of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, and it is visible from all three floors of the museum. In recognition of the life-giving properties of water, each of the spaces spiraling around this flowing fountain now contain works of art from the museum’s permanent collection that reveal the complex and diverse ways that African artists and communities have responded to water.

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Water continues to inspire artists across the vast African continent, and we encourage you to learn more about them.

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Let us know of other artists you like whose work recognizes the power of water! And, Happy Earth Day!
Come and see our exhibition Currents: Water in African Art on view at the museum.
Biography
Milbourne has been a curator at the National Museum of African Art since May 2008. Since joining the museum, she has curated the exhibitions “Earth Matters: Land as Material and Metaphor in the Arts of Africa,” “Artists in Dialogue: António Ole and Aimé Mpane” (2009), and “Artists in Dialogue 2: Sandile Zulu and Henrique Oliveira” (2011). She also served as coordinating curator for the exhibitions “Yinka Shonibare MBE” (2010), “Central Nigeria Unmasked” (2011) and “The Divine Comedy: Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell Revisited by Contemporary African Artists” (2015). In 2016, Karen opened two exhibitions, both “Senses of Time: Video and Film-Based Works of Africa” and “Emeka Ogboh’s Market Symphony.” In 2017, she co-curated the museum’s permanent collection exhibition Visionary: Viewpoints on Africa’s Arts.