NEWS

Note: photo information at end of story

By LIBBIE HOUGH
Ackland Art Museum

CHAPEL HILL -- Mutual influences in contemporary African and African-American art will be explored in a pioneering exhibition opening Dec. 19 at the University of North Carolina’s Ackland Art Museum.

"Transatlantic Dialogue: Contemporary Art In and Out of Africa" is "one of the only exhibits and may be the first to look at both African impulses in African-American art and similar impulses in contemporary African art," said UNC-CH assistant art history professor Dr. Michael Harris, who curated the exhibition. "It is conceptually interesting and visually exciting."

The exhibition’s 40 paintings, sculptures, prints and ceramic works by seven African and seven African-American artists will debut at the Ackland through March 26. Then it will travel to the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., for display May 21 - Sept. 3 and the DuSable Museum of African American History in Chicago Oct. 7 - Dec. 31.

"‘Transatlantic Dialogue’ allows us to fulfill our mission of utilizing beautiful and interesting works of art in encouraging a dialogue around issues critical to our campus and local communities,’ said Ackland director Gerald Bolas. "Because the show is traveling to the Smithsonian and to the DuSable, we are able to carry the intellectual capital, visibility and reputation of Carolina well beyond our state."

The exhibition will suggest multiple layers of dialogue and comparison, Harris said: between African and African-American artists, who share a heritage but experience different cultures; between both groups and contemporary art; between artists and their cultures; between African tradition and contemporary art; and between black artists on both sides of the Atlantic.

Modern travel and cultural exchange have fostered some shared and similar directions in the work of both groups, said Harris. Exhibition visitors may play a game of guessing which works are African and which, African-American.

Artists featured include Jean-Michel Basquiat, John Biggers, Moyo Ogundipe, Ouattara, Winnie Owens-Hart and Moyo Okediji, a Nigerian scholar who, with Harris, wrote an 80-page color catalogue accompanying the exhibition. It contains artists’ biographies, reproductions of work in "Transatlantic Dialogue" and essays exploring themes the exhibition addresses.

Harris sought artists who embrace African elements in their work and explore African traditions with contemporary artistic trends, techniques and realities. They approach their work from distinct vantage points and in diverse media.

"‘Transatlantic Dialogue’ engages the viewer in a cultural dialogue where the influences of Western and African traditions intersect; a dialogue that has been going on among artists of African heritage worldwide for some time," Harris said. "Many of the artists featured have worked together on previous artistic and intellectual endeavors.

The exhibition has been two years in the making since Harris first proposed it to the museum staff. A painter and art historian with three master’s degrees and a doctorate from Yale University, he teaches African and African-American art history. He also exhibits his own work and previously co-curated "Astonishment and Power," an exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution in 1993.

That exhibition, in the same museum that will next host "Transatlantic Dialogue," featured art from Africa’s Kongo region and by Renee Stout, an African-American artist influenced by Kongo traditions.

The Ackland will host a free public opening reception for "Transatlantic Dialogue" from 3-5 p.m. Jan. 23, plus subsequent events including storytelling and dance performances, a faculty forum and gallery talks by the artists.

"We have a university art historian working with the university museum to explore uncharted territory," said museum exhibitions curator Barbara Matilsky. "It’s an ideal collaboration."

The Ackland is on South Columbia Street near Franklin Street. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and 1-5 p.m. Sundays. For more information, call 919-966-5736 (museum office) or 919-962-0837 (Telecommunications for the Deaf) or visit http://www.unc.edu/depts/ackland/.

The following programs accompanying "Transatlantic Dialogue" will be free and open to the public at the Ackland:

Jan. 23, Opening Reception, 3-5 p.m.

UNC-CH assistant art history professor Dr. Michael Harris, exhibition guest-curator, and Moyo Okediji, a featured artist and contributor to the accompanying exhibition catalog, provide an informal gallery discussion.

Feb. 2, Discussion, 7 p.m.

Dr. Michael Harris, exhibition guest curator, will moderate an informal conversation between Jeff Donaldson, former dean of the faculty of fine arts at Howard University, and Nigerian-born Moyo Okediji about their careers, their paintings, and the multiple cultural influences on their works. Reception to follow.

Feb. 27, Poetry Reading, 3 p.m.

"A Poetic Response to Transatlantic Dialogue" with Cherryl Floyd-Miller, a member of the women’s poetry troupe Infinity: The Collective.

March 1, Discussion, 7 p.m.

Guest curator Dr. Michael Harris will moderate an informal dialogue between ceramist Winnie Owens-Hart of Howard University and Sokari Douglas Camp of Nigeria about their careers, influences on their work and their experiences as women artists. March is National Women’s Month. Reception to follow.

March 5, Storytelling, 3 p.m.

Through voice and drumming, Obakunle Akinlana will perform traditional folktales from the Yoruba culture of southwestern Nigeria. Born in Atlanta, Akinlana has visited the Yoruba for 20 years to learn about the culture's art, songs, dances, language and folklore. Suitable for children ages 5 and older.

March 19, Storytelling, 3 p.m.

"The Healing Force," an African-American family from Winston-Salem, will perform African stories, music and dance. Suitable for all ages.

- 30 -

Note: photos available by contacting university photographer Dan Sears at 919-962-8592.

Contact: Libbie Hough, Ackland Art Museum, 919-966-5736, lhough@email.unc.edu.