in the beginning…

Recently, I took my students on a field trip to the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) for the umpteenth time. Of course, you would be right in assuming that this could not have been the same group of students. What has remained constant is the element of surprise that each trip has thrown up. The Eiteljorg Gallery of African Art at the IMA remains one of my favorite galleries in major museums that I have visited nation-wide. Ted Celenko, the curator, has been consistent—even clinical—in the attention that he has paid to such issues as labeling and clarity. One of the strengths of the gallery is the embedment of video clips within accessible cubicles at strategic locations throughout the gallery. When activated, these vignettes are the closest that generations of my students have come to Africa. And as always, they have always appreciated these pedagogical and informational devices.

The latest surprise came in the relocation of El Anatsui’s compelling work, Duvor. Previously, this piece was hung on the large wall that admits visitors to the Eiteljorg Gallery of African Art. Now, it has found a new home in the Contemporary Art Gallery of the same museum. This is a salutary move. Anatsui has re-invented our notion of appropriation in the series of large hangings that he has been producing in recent years. In my estimation, this belongs in the contemporary arena (where, by the way, Ghada Amer’s pieces are also resident.) I have not had any official explanations for this move, neither does the administration of IMA owe me one. To the extent that Anatsui’s name remains on the work, it will forever bear the imprint of his African-ness. The issue, thus, is the appropriateness of location. Contemporary art transcends ethnicity or boundaries of production. And this is what is reified in the current location of his work. It works for me.

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~ by delejegede on March 15, 2010.