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AFRICAN ART EXHIBITION HIGHLIGHTING YORUBA TRADITIONS AND CULTURE TO PREMIERE AT THE HIGH MUSEUM IN ATLANTA

Gift of Yoruba Art from the Wagner Collection to Make Public Debut

^{“Embodying the Sacred in Yoruba Art”}

^{December 22, 2007–April 20, 2008}

^{ATLANTA, August 16, 2007 – Over the course of thousands of years, the Yoruba people have produced some of the best-known examples of African art. This December the High Museum of Art will present “Embodying the Sacred in Yoruba Art: Featuring the Bernard and Patricia Wagner Collection,” an exhibition that explores the spiritual significance of art in Yoruba culture. The exhibition will feature works of art from collectors Dr. Bernard and Patricia Wagner, which were recently given to the High Museum and The Newark Museum in New Jersey. Co-organized by both museums, the exhibition will premiere at the High on December 22, 2007, and will remain on view through April 20, 2008; it will be on view at The Newark Museum from June 6 through August 24, 2008.}

^{“This exhibition provides an opportunity to spotlight the High’s rich collection of Yoruba art and allows us to celebrate the Wagner’s recent gift,” said Michael E. Shapiro, Nancy and Holcombe T. Green, Jr. Director of the High Museum of Art. “These gifts, building on those we have received from Fred and Rita Richman, establish the High as a leading resource for African art. We are deeply indebted to the Wagners for their generosity and loyal support, and we are pleased to showcase their gift alongside other works in the High’s collection in this exhibition.”}

^{“Embodying the Sacred in Yoruba Art” features approximately 70 works produced from the late 19th to 20th centuries and will highlight the relationship between art and the spiritual world, revealing important insights into African artistic expression. Yoruba art gives visual form to the divine and, in turn, inspires religious devotion. The Yoruba are among the oldest and most influential of all African cultures and today make up one of Africa’s largest ethnic groups with more than 20 million Yoruba living in Nigeria as well as in neighboring countries such as the Republic of Benin and Togo.}

^{“This exhibition builds on both the High Museum’s and The Newark Museum’s enduring commitments to presenting nationally and internationally significant exhibitions of African art,” said Carol Thompson, the High’s Fred and Rita Richman Curator of African Art. “It will allow audiences to take a closer look at the meaning and significance of Yoruba art while gaining a greater appreciation of its aesthetic impact. Visitors will also discover the Yoruba’s rich traditions that continue to influence present-day civilizations.”}

^{“Embodying the Sacred in Yoruba Art” is divided into three thematic sections, beginning with art  that glorifies the head—highly valued in Yoruba culture as the seat of intelligence and a site of perception, communication and identity. Upon entering, visitors will encounter an impressive Epa headdress, which embodies the concept of onà, the Yoruba word that means “unique form” or “embodiment of creative skill.” Epa headdresses are created and danced to celebrate cultural achievement in annual and biennial performances. Next, visitors will discover several examples of the type of work referred to as “house of the head” (ile ori), crown-shaped containers meant to be placed on an altar in gratitude for good fortune. The section closes with examples of three different types of beaded crowns: the sacred crown with beaded veil, a crown dedicated to a patron deity and more casual headgear without veils. Supplementing this royal display will be swords, scepters and other regalia.}

^{Section two, the largest of the exhibition, provides an introduction and overview of Yoruba deities, or òrìsà. Traditional Yoruba religion is complex, with more than 400 gods and a supreme creator, Olòdúmarè. The presentation will include altar images and ritual implements related to the three major categories of deities: primordial beings, deified ancestors and nature spirits. The exhibition will focus on eight deities in Yoruba culture, including Èsù/Elégba, the mediator; Òsanyìn, patron deity of healing and herbalists; Òrìsà Oko, deity of agriculture; and Sàngó, guardian of social justice and spiritual wellbeing.}

^{The final section of the exhibition brings together a variety of Yoruba masquerade genres, focusing on the most popular festivals: Egúngún, Epa and Gèlèdé. Masks reflect the belief that the human body is a work of art that makes the spirit visible in the physical world. The exhibition will feature both sculpted and wooden masks as well as full-body costumes.}

^{The Bernard and Patricia Wagner Collection}

^{Dr. Bernard and Patricia Wagner began collecting African art in 1969, assembling an extensive collection of more than a hundred objects in nearly four decades. Their primary focus is the tradition-based art of the Yoruba, celebrated for their rich artistic heritage spanning more than a thousand years. The Wagners were particularly drawn to Yoruba art because of its combination of artistic skill and creativity and its embodiment of culturally meaningful ideas. The couple, based in New Jersey, has also promised a gift of art to The Newark Museum.}

^{Exhibition Organization and Support}

^{“Embodying the Sacred in Yoruba Art” is co-organized by Carol Thompson, Fred and Rita Richman Curator of African Art at the High Museum of Art, and Dr. Christa Clarke, Curator, Africa, the Americas and the Pacific at The Newark Museum. Following its presentation in Atlanta, the exhibition will be on view in Newark from June 6 through August 24, 2008. The conceptual framework for this exhibition is based on a manuscript by Dr. Babatunde Lawal, professor of Art History at Virginia Commonwealth University and specialist in Yoruba art and culture. An illustrated catalogue with an essay by Dr. Lawal will accompany the exhibition.}

^{African Art at the High}

^{The High’s collection of African art is one of the most significant in the nation, with nearly 700 objects from the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Gabon, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and other nations. Begun with the gift of a Baga sculpture from Helena Rubenstein in 1953, the collection grew significantly after a generous donation of approximately 400 works by Fred and Rita Richman in 1972. Today, highlights include a nineteenth-century Yombe scepter; nineteenth-century male and female reliquary guardian figures by a Fang artist; a ceramic vessel by a Mangbetu artist, circa 1910; a gold-leaf covered royal scepter finial by Asante artist Osei Bonsu, circa 1930; and the recent acquisition of Taago, created in 2006 by contemporary artist El Anatsui.}

^{High Museum of Art}

^{The High Museum of Art, founded in 1905 as the Atlanta Art Association, is the leading art museum in the southeastern United States. With more than 11,000 works of art in its permanent collection, the High Museum of Art has an extensive anthology of 19th- and 20th-century American and decorative art; significant holdings of European paintings; a growing collection of African American art; and burgeoning collections of modern and contemporary art, photography and African art. The High is also dedicated to supporting and collecting works by Southern artists and is distinguished as the only major museum in North America to have a curatorial department specifically devoted to the field of folk and self-taught art. The High’s Media Arts department produces acclaimed annual film series and festivals of foreign, independent and classic cinema. In November 2005, the High opened three new buildings by architect Renzo Piano that more than doubled the Museum’s size, creating a vibrant “village for the arts” at the Woodruff Arts Center in midtown Atlanta. For more information about the High, please visit www.High.org.}

^{The Woodruff Arts Center}

^{The Woodruff Arts Center is the largest arts center in the Southeast as well as one of the four largest in the nation. The Woodruff is unique in that it combines five visual and performing arts divisions on one campus as one not-for-profit organization. Opened in 1968, the Woodruff Arts Center is home to the Alliance Theatre, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the High Museum of Art, Young Audiences and the 14th Street Playhouse.} 

^{Key images}

^{DIGITAL IMAGES AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST}

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