Snake Money
Fon Sacred Pot
Ikenga Statue (Igbo)
Ceremonial Brass Blade for Oshun
“Fon Ogou Altar / Staff for Gu”
Two Rubber Sculptures of Dogon Masquerades
Statue of the Oba of Benin
Fon Bell for Vodun Gods (or Yoruba Bell for Obatala)
Fon Bell for Vodun Gods (or Yoruba Bell for Obatala)
Benin Queen Mother Bust
Fon Silver Necklace for a Priest with Canons
Ivory Bust of Fulani Woman
Female Tyi Wara Antelope Headdress (Bambara)
Bambara Woman
Répoussé Brass Pan (Kuduo) for an Ashanti God, or abosum
Bundu/Sande Sowo-Wui Mask #1
Heraldic Banner for the Dahomean King Tegbesu
Legba Statue
Fon Ancestral Staff (Asen)
A-Tshol, Elek, or Anoke Shrine Figure
Non-Yoruba West African
This exhibition focuses on the differences, the similarities, and the historical communication among West African Yoruba religion and its most celebrated American cognates—Brazilian Candomblé and Cuban Santería/Ocha. The Collection was assembled with an eye toward similarities of form and meaning among the sacred objects of these traditions, as well as similarities of meaning amid differences […]
On Healing in the Afro-Atlantic Religions
Does religion teach us how to avoid suffering, or how to suffer and transcend? The Afro-Atlantic religions are often sought out by those who are suffering, and offer a philosophy of healing the whole person, with less regard for the Western dichotomy of physical and spiritual. This visual guided tour seeks to explore the following key questions: How are the gods and spirits called upon for healing? How do objects for ritual and healing specifically reflect their ambivalent abilities to both hurt and heal?