Tours

African Voices

Dr. Mary Jo Arnoldi, Curator of African Ethnology

Dr. Michael Mason, Anthropologist/Exhibit Developer, Office of Exhibits

Department of Anthropology

National Museum of Natural History

Smithsonian Institution

AM Tour 

Anthropologist and Exhibit Developer Dr. Michael Mason led START participants on a tour of this recently reopened gallery exploring the cultures and history of the African continent. Dr. Mason described the three-and-a-half years of planning that went into development of the exhibit, in addition to the one-and-a-half years of fabrication time, reflecting input from researchers, exhibit developers, and representatives of various African communities, ensuring authenticity and relevance of the exhibit. START participants learned about the Congo Crossroads, where the spirits meet the material world; about the Atlantic slave trade, Afro-Caribbean religion, the balancing of different economic activities in modern day Kenya, details of a Ghanaian market, and the elaborate airplane- and fish-shaped coffins used to dispatch successful members of the Ga tribe to their afterlives. Dr. Mason drew attention to innovative uses of audiovisuals and interactive displays throughout the exhibit (i.e., a variety of video formats, hanging parabolic dishes featuring taped interviews from the 1930s with surviving American slaves, computer touch screens exploring recycling in Mali), allowing visitors with different learning styles to explore the exhibit and ensuring that the stories are told by Africans themselves.

PM Tour 

Ms. Heather Rosker guided a group of START participants through the African Voices exhibit. This exhibit aims at examining the diversity, dynamism, and global influence of Africa’s peoples and cultures over history in the areas of family, community, wealth, education, work, religion and the natural environment. The exhibit particularly focuses on these themes as they relate to modern African culture. The Wealth in Africa section of the exhibit emphasizes wealth in marriage, fashion, in afterlife and as currency. An impressive airplane coffin created by master carpenter Paa Joe captures the notion that even in mourning, there is reason to celebrate a life well lived. Fashion ensembles by the late renowned fashion designer, Chris Seydou, are displayed and complimented by photographs of runway models wearing his designs. The Market Crossroads section depicts photographs and images of the modern market its products like Kola, textiles and food. The Focus Gallery exhibits photographs of the Afro-Brazilian religion by Phyllis Galembo and sculptures commemorating Yoruba culture by Yoruba master sculptor, Lamidi Olonade Fakeye. In the exhibit’s Freedom Theatre, one can see their choice of two-twenty minute films, Atlantic Slave Trade and Struggle for Freedom.