African Voices.

AFRICAN VOICES National Museum of Natural History Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Opened December 1999

I have visited "African Voices" at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History several times since it first opened in December 1999, and I have come away each time with something different. Many of us remember the former Smithsonian exhibition on human culture in Africa, with its pale walls, dusty cases, fluorescent lighting, and yellowing labels. The one that has replaced it is sometimes confusing, often crowded, and always noisy, but it is also informative and exciting. The charge to the committee that developed the new exhibition was to present African culture as grounded in history, but vibrant and complex in its variety. The voices presented here are voices of living Africans, and of African literature and music read and performed by Africans.

Visitors can enter the hall at either end, each of which presents an orientation to the display. The center of the hall is a walkway in which a historical narrative introduces the history of human life on the continent in nine sections, beginning with its first appearance nearly two million years ago and ending in the 1990s. This is the only linear element in an otherwise pod-like presentation in which adjacent areas flow into each other with sometimes bewildering complexity. In fact, the historical narrative occasionally drifts into the other areas, as is the case with the display describing the Benin kingdom's politics and art, adjacent to the Living in Africa area.

The openness of the gallery means that one can hear from one part of the installation to the other, and sound recordings in several places combine with the voices of visitors. The separate parts of the exhibition also interplay visually with each other, as walls are sometimes transparent (vitrines and glass walls), and most opaque walls are really curved screens which permit space to flow from one area to another. Along one side of the hall, discussions of education and the family lead into presentations on toys, cloth, and markets, then on crafts and manufacturing (metals, clay, recycled materials). Along the other side, displays on housing and cities lead into a presentation on Benin as a city and political entity, which becomes a discussion of a major African belief system at the Kongo crossroads (opposite the market crossroads, inviting comparisons between the two) and eventually to discussions of the slave trade and the African Diaspora. The Diaspora is presented as multi faceted, covering Brazilian Candomble, Cuban Santeria, North American political and economic slavery and its aftereffects, and African American life in Washington, D.C. In the adjacent Freedom Theater visitors can watch video presentations on dramatic episodes in the history of Africans in the New World.

Sections on either side of the central Walk Through Time concentrate on particular themes: daily life, economics and work, marriage and family, religion, material culture and entertainment, and the African Diaspora. The African voices presented here are greatly varied and fascinating, belonging to men and women from all parts of the continent. In many instances they are, in fact, recorded voices. Next to a complete, cutaway Somali aqal, for example, a life-size, full-screen video shows a man and woman discussing their memories of life in these portable houses when they were children. Whereas the aqal, made mostly of plant and animal fibers, is protectively encased in a vitrine, the Somalis recorded on celluloid are approachable and alive. Their narratives are remarkably touching. Further along, visitors encounter an example of spirituality in Africa as they walk through the Kongo crossroads (with its clearly marked cross within a circle of inlaid metal on the floor). Eventually one comes to the presentation of African American culture, visiting a Brazilian tenda, or religious supply store, and watching video presentations about African American religious specialists in Cuba, Brazil, and Haiti. Opposite the tenda, one hears recorded statements from Africans about the transatlantic slave trade and its horrors. Like the Somali voices, these are strong and moving.

Other voices take the form of recorded music, wall texts presenting proverbs and poetry, prayers, songs, and spoken or chanted epic narratives. They are for the most part those of living Africans rather than African voices reported by scholars. When we hear from scholars, they are African scholars (e. g., dele jegede on African crafts and aesthetics, Ali Mazrui on African history).

The profusion of sounds and sights in crowded west African markets are particularly well represented. Visitors walk through, re-creations of stalls and tables that look remarkably real. The west African market as a world of women becomes apparent as one proceeds through this section. It opens with Malian mud-dyed cloths, bogolan, which have become well known in the West since Norma Kamali first used bogolan-inspired cloth in her fashion designs. Traditional uses of the cloth, its manufacture by women, and the more recent spread of the art form (including use of the technique by male artists in easel paintings) introduce the complex overlapping of material culture traditions with modern developments and the spread of "world culture." Visitors are then led into the world of machine-printed cloth and its proverbial meanings in contemporary African culture. This presentation is followed by a kola vendor and a yam vendor's stalls and a dry goods shop. Through biographical narratives and large photographic portraits of these individuals, taken while they were at work, the merchants, all women, become complete persons rather than simply agents of commerce. Contextual photographs appear frequently in the exhibition, as do wall texts that refer to African philosophical concepts through quotation of proverbs and poetry.

This section of the hall includes exhibits on agricultural products and the five grain staples produced in different regions of the continent, plus recipes of local dishes. Crafts in metal, ceramic, and recycled materials are also a focus here. The section ends with a pair of chi wara, a discussion of their meaning and use in Bamana culture and symbolism, and an introduction to their carver. Just around the corner, a brief presentation on children and health in Africa faces the final historical episode at the end of the hall.

The Walk Through Time highlights important events, from the evolution of tool-making hominids to the election of Nelson Mandela as President of South Africa in 1994. This linear display provides a grounding for visitors as they make their way through the open spaces of the hall. Some of the heroic episodes may be unknown to some visitors, such as the rule of Spain by the Almoravids, African Muslims, during the eleventh and twelfth centuries and the Ethiopian king Menelik's victory over the Italian army in the late nineteenth century. These discussions and the "African voyages" map and narratives also debunk the myth that Africa existed for long periods of time in isolation from the rest of the world.

The Focus Gallery, where temporary exhibitions are mounted, first presented the life and work of the contemporary Nigerian artist Lamidi Fakeye. Sculptures and photographs of the artist and his works in situ were presented much as these works would be in an art museum, with identifying labels and wall texts. Viewers also saw a piece by Fakeye's mentor, his father. The current exhibition in this gallery (February 2, 2001-January 2002) features photographs by Phyllis Galembo of Afro-Brazilian shrines and religious personnel. The display includes comments by Galembo and Mae Estella de Oxossi, a priestess from Bahia, Brazil.

A small learning center allows visitors to explore aspects of the exhibition on individual touch-activated computer screens. Being basically unfamiliar with this technology, I had difficulty making these screens do what I wanted them to do (frankly, it was sometimes difficult to determine what I was supposed to want them to do). Perhaps questionnaires could help the museum make this part of the presentation more user friendly, even for computer semiliterates. When the monitors work, the results can be remarkably impressive. For example, I touched an image of Aretha Franklin and was suddenly treated to a recording of "Respect." Finding something that familiar in an "African" setting was gratifying and enlightening. Other parts of the installation are also interactive, and they are presented at a height that encourages participation by children as well as adults.

During my visit the provisional family guide to the exhibition was out of print, and the final version of the guide, which will be essentially like the preliminary version, is being prepared. It will introduce the sections of the exhibition, including a color-coded map to help visitors orient themselves in the visually (and physically) crowded environment. It will also contain questions and suggestions for activities which will help families (particularly those visiting the exhibition with children) personalize the information, thereby making it more comprehensible and meaningful.

There is a website for "African Voices" (http://www.mnh.si.edu/africanvoices), divided into categories, like the exhibition's themes. Giving an accurate impression of the exhibition, the site is attractive, informative, and easy to find and navigate.

The task assigned to the committee that designed the exhibition was huge: they were to present a complete picture of the cultures of Africa, as well as African American cultures, in all their major aspects: politico-historical, domestic, economic, and cultural. Considering the enormity of their objective, they have succeeded admirably. "African Voices" is entertaining and informative. The sights, sounds, and flavors of Africa are all here in profusion. History and culture in Africa are presented in human terms rather than anonymously: one meets the men, women, and children who are the creators of African culture. Visitors looking for a gallery of artistic masterpieces will not find them in this exhibition. Though there is plenty of art and craft in the hall, the material is presented as a facet of human culture rather than as a collection of beautiful objects. Like the continent it presents, "African Voices" is complex, warm, and exciting. I am sure it will age much more gracefully than its predecessor did.

ROBERT T, SOPPELSA is Director of the Mulvane Art Museum and Professor of Art History at Washburn University in Topeka. He has visited and studied in Africa since 1968.