Earth Matters: Land as Material and Metaphor in the Arts of Africa, Smithsonian National Museum of African Art
Washington, D.C.
Earth Matters: Land as Material and Metaphor in the Arts of Africa, a traveling exhibition for the National Museum of African Art, was part of the Smithsonian Institution’s 2013 Earth Day programming. The exhibition explored the work of traditional and contemporary African artists.
One hundred and five artworks by 40 artists from 24 of Africa’s 55 nations were displayed on and around a central topographical table, running the length of the gallery. The table’s design was based on the dikenga, an African X shaped cosmogram. Its surface alluded to the continent’s geological strata, underscoring the idea that the art of Africa is indelibly tied to the earth.
The exhibition was divided into five thematic zones: Material Earth, Power of the Earth, Imagining the Underground, Strategies of the Surface, and Art and Environmental Action. Paintings, mixed-media sculptures, photographs, textiles, ceramics, films, and installations were sourced from collections around the world.
Size 8,050 square feet
Year 2013
Project Details
FabricatorsExplus Inc.
General ContractorMeltech Corp., Inc.
ScriptwritingDr. Karen Milbourne, PhD, Senior Curator
Photography National Museum of African Art