A ‘Festival’ of African Art at the Fitchburg Art Museum

FITCHBURG — “Festival: A Celebration of African Art” is the first of several Fitchburg Art Museum Centennial exhibitions featuring works of art from the museum’s Permanent Collection of over 8,000 objects.

“Festival” honors Fitchburg Art Museum founder Eleanor Norcross and her goal to bring the experience of art to the people of Fitchburg. The exhibit is on display from now until Dec. 3

The exhibit is organized loosely around the ideas of African masquerade, ceremonial life, ritual life and domestic life. The items on display are just a sampling from over 1,000 artworks from across the African continent that make up the museum’s African collection.

The exhibited works include terra cottas dating from the first millennium BCE and contemporary work by transnational Nigerian artists such as Sokari Douglas Camp’s Drummers, 1987, and Yinka Shonibare’s Hybrid Mask, k’peliye’e, 2021.

These contemporary artworks book-end works that are best described as “traditional” or “iconic” dating from the 19th and 20th centuries, although they reflect much older practices.

“Iconic” African art includes masks and sculptures used in many different cultures and contexts across the continent, and are what most people picture when they think of African art. However, museum officials said they cannot pretend that the exhibition represents all African cultures. They said it does represent many ideas and practices that were widely shared and expressed in material form even as the art demonstrates the diversity of people’s visions. “Festival” is an invitation for people to immerse themselves in this richness.

This exhibition was organized by Consulting Curator for African, Oceanic and First Peoples Arts, Jean Borgatti and designed by Curator Emily Mazzola and Terry and Eva Herndon Assistant Curator Sarah Harper.

Museum hours are Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from noon to 4 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and FAM at Night on the first Thursday of the month: from noon to 7 p.m. Visit the museum website at www.fitchburgartmuseum.org for more information.