The Cantor Arts Center Reinstalls its African Arts Collection

Written by Hilary Crawford Saturday, 27 August 2011 00:56

Stanford, CA.- The Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University present “Expanding Views of Africa”, a reinstallation of its African Art Collection. The new exhibition opens in August and will continues indefinitely. This enlarged and enhanced exhibition, which includes 200 works from the collection plus key loans, broadens conventional views of African art, from ancient cultures before the dynasties of the Egyptian Pharaohs to contemporary artists. Before entering the African galleries, a niche off the lobby highlights a single object:  a full-sized bush buffalo costume with mask from the Nunuma culture of Burkina Faso. Once in the first gallery, visitors encounter contemporary works made in a variety of media from the 1950s to the present, by artists living in Africa and the Diaspora. The next space presents African arts from the 16th to the mid-20th century. The final gallery features the oldest African arts in museum collections, ranging from pre-dynastic Egypt to 15th-century sub-Saharan cultures.

“The art of Africa dates from the beginning of humanity to the present, and African art expresses ideas about humanity that are held in common with peoples all over the world and throughout time,” said Barbara Thompson, Ph.D., Phyllis Wattis Curator of the Arts of Africa and the Americas.  “I am excited about this opportunity to introduce our visitors to a new way of considering African art and culture, in its historical depth and diversity.  We are featuring a greater range of media and chronological, geographic, and thematic representation than ever before.  The objects now on view illustrate the unique nature of the Cantor Arts Center’s African collection and demonstrate our new strategies in collection development and display.”

The earliest antiquities on view, pottery from approximately 4000–3100 BCE, predate the emergence of a single powerful leader and the unification of Egypt under the Pharaohs. Thompson uses a thematic approach to correlate objects throughout the ancient, historic, and contemporary sections of the exhibition. The theme “Fashioning the Body/Defining the Self” includes body adornment used to define gender, cultural affinity, age, and social status, such as contemporary Tuareg jewelry, 19th-century Nguni beadwork, and an ancient Egyptian necklace. “Economies and Exchanges in Africa and Beyond” is exemplified by ancient Egyptian trade objects, goldweights from the historic period, and a contemporary abstracted painting of a busy market. “Moments of Transformation” includes an Egyptian mummy mask, from the 7th–6th century BCE, which aids in transitioning to the afterlife, and a 19th-century bocio figure used in the Vodoun religion of the Fon peoples of the Republic of Benin.  Bocio figures help to bring about protection, wellbeing, wisdom, and balance. The Vodoun religion spread throughout West Africa and to the Americas with the trans-Atlantic slave trade, a troubled history that Beninese artist Gérard Quenum recalls in his “Night Watchman” a sculpture from 2004 that promotes thought and social commentary.


The Cantor Arts Center boasts a proud and venerable history, as it was conceived of in tandem with the founding of Stanford University itself. The Stanford family, including Leland Jr., traveled the world collecting objects of art and cultural interest. The museum was originally created to make this collection available to students and the public. It has withstood natural disasters and periodic neglect, only to be resurrected, renewed, and expanded, with its collections stronger than ever, thanks to the passionate dedication of Stanford faculty and staff, and art lovers in the surrounding community. One of the highlights of Cantor Arts Center is the Rodin sculpture garden, which contains 20 bronzes. Among them are the famous "Gates of Hell", "Adam, Eve", "The Three Shades", and "The Thinker". "The Burghers of Calais" is displayed in the Stanford Main Quad. In total, the Cantors donated 187 of Rodin's works, making Stanford University the third largest Rodin collection in the world after the Musée Rodin in Paris and the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia, PA. The Papua New Guinea sculpture garden, southwest of the Stanford Main Quad, presents 40 works, unique examples of the striking traditional Visual Arts of Papua New Guinea. The Cantor Arts Center's other outdoor collection includes 35 other 19th- to 21st-century sculptures sited around campus. "Stone River," created in 2001 by British artist Andy Goldsworthy, can be found in front of the historic museum building, sited slightly below-grade in a small grove beyond visitor parking. A campus sculpture map is available. The museum also contains a cafe, Cafe Cool, and a Bookshop. Visit the museum's website at ... http://museum.stanford.edu

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