"Passages: Photographs in Africa by Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher"
2000-07-14 until 2000-09-24
Brooklyn Museum of Art
Brooklyn, NY, USA

Examining the lifecycle as well as the political and spiritual beliefs of its societies, this exhibition will include 95 images of African rituals by photographers Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher. The photographers spent 10 years traveling through Africa to document customs and rights of passage, many of which were closed to the outside world and may never be seen again.

Among the images in the exhibition are coming of age ceremonies for Maasai boys in Kenya and Krobo girls in Ghana; an extraordinary stick fight for brides among the Surma of southwestern Ethiopia; and wedding adornment for Himba brides in northwestern Namibia. The exhibition will also include 40 objects from the BMA's renowned collection, including a full-body Yoruba Gelede mask, an 11-foot-high Dogon mask, and a fantasy coffin from Ghana. There will be six video monitors displaying the photographer's footage of African rituals. Accompanying the entire exhibition will be music by musician-composer David Bradnum, who has traveled with Beckwith and Fisher on many of their expeditions.

Organization: The exhibition was organized by William Siegmann, Curator of the Arts of Africa at the BMA.

Publication: These images first appeared in African Ceremonies, a deluxe two-volume set published by Harry N. Abrams in 1999. The publisher plans a single-volume, full-color catalogue for Passages available mid-year.

Related Links:

Indepth Arts Resources for the State of New York

Other Important Exhibitions in Brooklyn