From 17 October - 17 December 2018
MAA’s visiting exhibition
SPIRITS OF AFRICA – WEST AFRICAN RITUAL ART
Photo: Vladimir Popović
A visiting exhibition of the Museum of African Art called „Spirits of Africa –West African Ritual Art“ was opened in Skopje at the Museum of Macedonia. The exhibit was opened by H.E. Dušanka Divjak Tomić, the Ambassador of the Republic of Serbia in Macedonia, Vladimir Lazoski, deputy minister of culture of the Republic of Macedonia, as well as the director of Skopje Jazz Festival, Oliver Belopeta.
This exhibition is the first presentation made by the Museum of African Art for the Macedonian public. It showcases a small portion of the vast spiritual and artistic heritage of Africa, based on the materials from the Museum’s collection. Sculptures, masks and textiles were selected so as to highlight the artistic expressivity of African folk sculpture, which gained international acclaim comparable to that of the most outstanding art achivements world-wide. The objects chosen for display are linked to religious practices and spiritual beliefs, because they convey the abundance of the Africans’ spiritual reality.
Precisely these examples of folk creativity express the inspiration of the artists and the depth of their core beliefs most adequately. The ritual art of West Africa forms the thematic basis of the exhibition, because West Africa is a specific cultural and historical area in which numerous art traditions flourished – as exemplified by notable art pieces in the MAA collections.
