Yamada International House

African mask exhibit brought to life for Athens County children

By, Maria Gallucci
Communications Assistant, Center for International Studies

African masks do not hang on the walls of Federal Hocking or Nelsonville schools, but for a week in February, students from around Athens County experienced the life and culture of Africa through a unique display at the Kennedy Museum of Art.

The exhibit, Behind the Mask: African Art from the Ellen Hobbs Collection and the Kennedy Museum of Art, ran from February to April 2007 and featured many masks, primarily from donor Ellen Hobbs’ collection. The masks represent various African tribes in West and Central African countries, including Nigeria, Mali, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

To bring children to the museum, the Ohio Valley International Council (OVIC), under Director Laura Schaeffer, teamed up with the Kennedy to create an educational exhibit and to provide the schools with funding for bus transportation. Students came from Nelsonville-York, East and Amesville elementary schools and Federal Hocking and Meigs middle schools.

“For many (students), it is the first time they have been to the Kennedy,” Schaeffer said. “A lot of the schools just do not have any funding for extra programming.”

Guest curator Andrea Frohne, an assistant professor of African Art at Ohio University, coordinated the event with Kennedy and students in her graduate art history seminar.

“We’re really interested in showing the masks in their larger performance context; what happens when the mask is worn in dance, when there is audience participation and music,” Frohne said.

Frohne said part of the exhibition’s purpose is to break down negative stereotypes that have existed in the past about Africans and their art, including the belief that such art is less important than Western art or that the culture is based solely on past traditions.

Sally Delgado, curator of education for the museum, said the educational exhibit was modified to address more Ohio K-12 Academic Content Standards benchmarks, which helps teachers determine if the trip to the museum will fit their curriculum.

“It has definitely increased the school visits for the museum,” Delgado said. “The tours have been very successful, in large part due to the collaborative programming. Students were able to experience the exhibition and were also able to learn more about the different countries represented by the (masks).”

In addition to busing, OVIC also arranged for cultural consultants to speak to the students at the museum. Mary Motegi, originally from Kenya, and Omolola Famuyiwa, a Yoruba woman from Nigeria, are both graduate students at Ohio. The women each gave individual presentations on the culture and traditions of their home countries.

“The only way we can bring the rest of the world to children, especially those who may not have the privilege of traveling, is to create a forum where they learn about other cultures,” Famuyiwa said. “This helps them know that ways of greeting, speaking, dressing exist other than the American way.”

At the exhibit, Frohne’s students guided the children around the exhibit and explained the significance and traditional ceremonial uses of the masks, as well as the craftsmanship of mask making.

“Masks have a lot more to do with spirituality and cosmology and honor specific spirits and ancestors,” Frohne said. “There is a real fluidity between the land of the living and the land of the dead, so that is played out and honored in masquerades, or performances where masks are used.”

The children then moved upstairs to meet with the cultural consultants. Motegi presented a slide show of pictures from a traditional Maasai wedding in Western Kenya. Though they were not about African masks, the photos provided another way to introduce African culture to the students, she said.

“I strongly believe it is vital since it creates awareness about Africa,” she said. “The choice of picking young children is (important) because they grow up knowing a different Africa from what the media presents to them. I noted a lot of ‘wows’ from new discoveries.”

In Famuyiwa’s presentation, students practiced traditional Nigerian greetings, dances and songs. She also showed them items from the country and explained some differences between English in Nigeria and in the United States.

“’Mat’ in Nigeria could pass for ‘rug’ and a ‘lorry’ is simply a truck,” Famuyiwa said. “I confirmed again that children all over the world have more similarities than differences and the experiences children have gone through affects their disposition.”

The educational coordination between Kennedy and OVIC is a great way to bring positive impressions to young children, particularly in Southeast Ohio, Frohne said.

“I think it is a great experience to get children into a museum and to start looking at art at a young age.”

Motegi said she hopes that OVIC and the museum can provide similar opportunities to many more children.

“Teaching more about other continents and people would help break boundaries of prejudice and intolerance and build bridges of integration,” Famuyiwa said.