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Dr. Christa Clarke

About Dr. Christa Clarke

Dr. Christa Clarke is Senior Curator, Arts of Global Africa at the Newark Museum. Dr. Clarke has held fellowships at the Smithsonian, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Clark Art Institute, and teaching appointments at NYU Abu Dhabi, University of Pennsylvania, George Washington University, Rutgers University, Purchase College, and Drew University. She is currently a fellow of the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University and President of the Association of Art Museum Curators.

janus grid — This exceptional mask has a solid wooden core carved with two similar faces in opposing directions, often referred to as a Janus face.

Janus-Faced Headdress (Ejagham or Bale peoples)

by Dr. Christa Clarke

Plaque: Equestrian Oba and Attendants, 1550-1680, Nigeria, Court of Benin, Edo peoples, brass, 49.5 x 41.9 x 11.4 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — By the sixteenth century, Western trade involved Africans being forcibly brought to the Americas as slaves.

Africa historical overview: from the 1600s to ...

by Dr. Christa Clarke

Linguist Staff (Okyeamepoma) (Asante peoples) — Recent discoveries in southern Africa provide remarkable evidence of the earliest stirrings of human creativity.

Africa historical overview: to 1600

by Dr. Christa Clarke

Seydou Keïta, Untitled [Seated Woman with Chevron Print Dress], 1956, printed 1997, Mali, Bamako, gelatin silver print, 60.96 x 50.8 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — Studio photography produced mementos for the growing middle class: Keïta’s Bamako studio was abuzz with clients.

Seydou Keïta, Untitled (Seated Woman with Chevron ...

by Dr. Christa Clarke

Figure from a Reliquary Ensemble: Seated Female, 19th–early 20th century, Fang peoples, Okak group, Gabon or Equatorial Guinea, wood, metal, 64 x 20 x 16.5 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — What kinds of cultural biases have shaped African collections in Western museums?

Western appreciation of African art

by Dr. Christa Clarke

One figure from a Pair of Diviner's Figures, Côte d'Ivoire, central Côte d'Ivoire, Baule peoples, wood, pigment, beads and iron, 55.4 x 10.2 x 10.5 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — The artistic enhancement of functional objects can reflect and reinforce an individual’s social status.

Art and the individual

by Dr. Christa Clarke

Headdress, 19th–20th century, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Yaka peoples, wood, cane, raffia, pigment, 45.1 x 61 x 54.6 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — In transitional periods, art objects are often employed to assist rites of passage and reinforce community values.

Rites of passage

by Dr. Christa Clarke

Head of an Oba, Nigeria, Court of Benin, 16th century, brass, 23.5 x 21.9 c 22.9 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — Art has always played a role in African politics—both in large kingdoms and smaller, village-based societies.

Art and politics

by Dr. Christa Clarke

Dogon Couple, 18th-early 19th century (Dogon peoples), Mali, wood and metal, 73 x 23.7 (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — In addition to local indigenous religions, Christianity and Islam are also practiced throughout Africa.

Religion and the Spiritual Realm

by Dr. Christa Clarke

Magdalene Odundo, Untitled (Vessel), 1997, red clay, 50.2 x 33 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — Odundo’s vessels may be described as variations on a theme, in which subtle modifications of form have great aesthetic impact

Magdalene Odundo, Untitled (Vessel)

by Dr. Christa Clarke

Seydou Keïta, Untitled [Seated Woman with Chevron Print Dress], 1956, printed 1997, Mali, Bamako, gelatin silver print, 60.96 x 50.8 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — Studio photography produced mementos for the growing middle class: Keïta’s Bamako studio was abuzz with clients.

Seydou Keïta, Untitled (Seated Woman with Chevron ...

by Dr. Christa Clarke

Illuminated Gospel — This 15th century manuscript is based on Egyptian Coptic sources, but its creators imbued it with local flair.

Illuminated Gospel

by Dr. Christa Clarke

Married Woman’s Apron (Ndebele peoples) — These decorated aprons were gifts from the groom’s family to his wife, and signified her new role in society.

Married Woman’s Apron (Ndebele peoples)

by Dr. Christa Clarke

Figurative Harp (Domu) — European patrons encouraged artists to include human forms on objects that were previously nonfigurative.

Figurative Harp (Domu) (Mangbetu peoples)

by Dr. Christa Clarke

Buli Master, Female caryatid — This stool reminds the king to thank his mother for his power, and is so important that it has its own bodyguard.

Buli Master, possibly Ngongo ya Chintu, Prestige ...

by Dr. Christa Clarke

Double prestige panel — Though many raffia textiles were made as garments for and by both men and women, this one was intended for display.

Double Prestige Panel (Kuba peoples)

by Dr. Christa Clarke

Detail, Crucifix, 16th-17th century, Democratic Republic of the Congo; Angola; Republic of the Congo, solid cast brass, 27.3 cm high (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — During its brief fling with Christianity, the Kongo kingdom merged western iconography with local aesthetics.

Crucifix (Kongo peoples)

by Dr. Christa Clarke

Female reliquary, Fang peoples — The Fang peoples commemorated their ancestors with carved reliquary figures that they honored with offerings.

Female Figure from a Reliquary Ensemble (Fang ...

by Dr. Christa Clarke

Ceremonial Palm Wine Vessel, 19th–20th century, Grassfields region, Cameroon, gourd, glass beads, cloth, cane, wood, 76.2 x 30.8 x 19.7 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — Lavishly decorated with expensive materials for the chief’s exclusive use, this isn’t your average wine bottle.

Ceremonial Palm Wine Vessel (Cameroon Grasslands peoples)

by Dr. Christa Clarke

Linguist Staff (Okyeamepoma) (Asante peoples) — While its itsy bitsy American counterpart climbed up the waterspout, the spider shown here brought wisdom to Ghana.

Linguist Staff (Okyeamepoma) (Asante peoples)

by Dr. Christa Clarke

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