By Kellie Houx, Editor of KC Studio

A groundbreaking visual examination of how African artists expressed the dynamic interactions between African cultures and Europeans and Westerners opened on Sept. 25 at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Through African Eyes: The European in African Art, 1500– Present, on view through Jan. 9, 2011, features 95 works of art exploring 500 years of contact.

The exhibition, which debuted this past spring at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), is the first to give a wide perspective of the African point of view of Europeans, from first encounters and trade relations, to European settlements and colonization, through the contemporary years of post-independence. Sculptures, masks, utilitarian objects, textiles, photographs and paintings lent from more than 30 institutions and collections give a riveting commentary on artistic perceptions from more than 20 African countries.

Special events this fall will enhance the exhibition experience: a Nov. 4 presentation by Nii Quarcoopome, the DIA curator who worked nearly 10 years to plan and curate the exhibition; a Nov. 6 event featuring renowned musicians and dancers from Ghana, West Africa—The Kusun Ensemble; and an interactive musical event Nov. 26 by Mady Kouyate of Mali, West Africa.

“The works of art in this exhibition express an incredible diversity of response to white people, spanning the gamut of emotion from admiration to resentment,” said Leesa Fanning, associate curator, Modern & Contemporary Art, at the Nelson-Atkins, who served as curator for the Kansas City venue. She worked with Quarcoopome, who leads the Department of Africa, Oceania and Indigenous Americas at DIA. As a child in the 1960s in Ghana, he witnessed first-hand the complex relationships between Africans and white Europeans and Americans.

“At the heart of the exhibition and its accompanying catalogue is the desire to give fuller capacity to African voices; indeed, the title, Through African Eyes, primarily obtains from this thinking,” he said. “After all, what good is African art and history without the African voice? The exhibit looks at the dynamic relationship of many cultures in Africa with Europeans and Americans. That relationship is explored through a complex array of objects.” 

The works of art generally take three forms. First are the portraits of specific Europeans or images that represent a particular moment in time; next are images of white people as a metaphor or allusion to authority, power, brutality, wealth, literacy, etc.; and finally, there are utilitarian objects that Africans used to denote European or Western culture, such as guns, books and eyeglasses.

“At first, because Africans encountered Europeans only as occasional visitors to their communities, white people remained exotic characters,” Quarcoopome writes. He also said when the Europeans arrived, they were often revered as spirits or ancestors who had passed on. The exhibit starts with Strangers and Spirits.  The arrival of the Portuguese around 1450 created a sensation. In many African cultures, whiteness is traditionally associated with the supernatural and spirits. African sculptures with white pigment surfaces are instantly recognized by Africans as representing spirits. With their pale skin, the Portuguese were first thought to be supernatural beings.

The next section is on Traders. Direct partnerships between Portuguese traders and African kingdoms resulted in a long-lasting impact on African arts and cultures. African artists incorporated European imagery, imported materials and goods. Objects in this section show the European as a trader of goods and slaves– lucrative for some, destructive for others.

But once Europeans decided to settle among Africans, African attitudes changed toward them as a people and culture. Increased familiarity eroded much of the initial fascination and enabled Africans to more fully assess the racial and cultural differences, he says.  “That closer scrutiny gave African artists a chance to study Europeans. They saw overdressed people, wound a little too tight. You have to have a sense of humor to live in Africa.” Quarcoopome also spoke about Christianity. A door shows how African carvers took the images of the birth of Christ and put in more meaningful gifts such as a chicken to give the tribe a more familiar image.

The next section is on Spirituality and Technology. Africans usually admired and welcomed European technologies. Artists here reflect the desire to own or be associated with European technology, but also express caution about its use. This work, Fantasy Coffin, a sculpture of a Mercedes Benz from 1996 by the Ghanaian artist Ben Kane Kwei, would have been commissioned to celebrate a life of wealth and achievement, provide an elegant ride for the deceased in the afterlife and fulfill the lifetime fantasy of owning such a car.

Education: The introduction of Western teachings created tensions within African societies, and many Africans saw access to Western education as a way to influence and resist European ways of understanding the world. Fanning said there was a division between keeping up one’s culture, tales and proverbs, versus books and lessons.

Colonizers: In the late 1800s representatives from 12 European countries divided Africa into colonies and established themselves as masters. Works here reveal how African artists expressed their attitudes toward colonizers from resistance to alignment. Between the 1950s and 1960s, as Africa’s boundaries were redrawn and independent nations appeared, artists created works of art reflecting on the era of colonization with feelings that ranged from deeply critical to nostalgic. This image of Queen Victoria depicts the monarch wearing a crown, veil, and long gown, an example of a broad artistic genre that was inspired by colonial photographs, postage stamps, medals and coins.

Westerners: African artistic interpretation of the West continues today. This section features art forms that reflect the ongoing complex interaction with the world. As more and more nations became independent, European influences faded some and were replaced by the American cultural force, Quarcoopome says.

Special Events

A number of programs and special events have been scheduled in association with the exhibition:

Common Impressions, Different Voices: The Stories Behind “Through African Eyes.”   

Nov. 4, 6–7 p.m., Atkins Auditorium

DIA curator Nii Quarcoopome shares insights into the field research that constituted the exhibition’s foundation, the process of assembling relevant works and the collaborations between curator and specialists who contributed to the exhibition’s interpretation.

Family Performance: The Kusun Ensemble

For members, during Member Appreciation Weekend: Nov. 5, 6–7 p.m. For the public: Nov. 6, 1–2 p.m. and 3–4 p.m., Atkins Auditorium 

The Kusun Ensemble is a remarkable group of musicians and dancers based in Ghana, West Africa. The ensemble has developed a new brand of music and dance they have dubbed Nokoko, which blends authentic sounds of traditional instruments with the exuberance of highlife music and the complexity of African jazz.

Family Performance: Mady Kouyate

Nov. 26, 5–6 p.m., Atkins Auditorium

Mady Kouyate plays the kora, a traditional 21-stringed lute-harp. He holds the position of a living history book of the Mandingo people in the region of Mali, West Africa. Kouyate presents an authentic African program, with call-and-response singing and rhythmic playing that interacts with the audience.

Tickets to these events are free, but require reservation: call 1.800.751.1ART (1278) or go to nelson-atkins.org, select the calendar tab, and register online.