African worlds.

Horniman Museum, London

The Horniman Museum, located in Forest Hill, a southern London neighborhood, is the perfect example of the overlooked gem of a museum. Overshadowed by the larger museums, such as the British Museum, in central London, it also suffers from the impression of being too far away. Founded by Frederick Horniman, a wealthy tea trader, in 1901 to make public his extraordinary collection, the Horniman is typical of many English museums in that it brings together a startling variety of exhibits and attractions. The gardens are among the best in all London, covering sixteen acres and including a small animal enclosure and a 1912 bandstand for summer performances. Recent improvements include a nature center and a restored Victorian conservatory. Among the displays is a large natural history section, also somewhat Victorian in character, complete with a small aquarium, and one of the world's largest collections of musical instruments. Another recent display addition is a striking history of the museum in the Centenary Gallery. This simultaneous presentation of diverse arts and artifacts of different time periods and different cultures is found in many museums and country homes throughout England and may seem unusual to those accustomed to more highly specialized art museums. The enthusiasm with which visitors, usually large families, tour these diverse exhibits, many with interactive elements, is something that museums anywhere would envy.

African Worlds is the result of a recent renovation of the old African Hall (which was the first permanent gallery showcasing African cultures in the UK) when major changes were made throughout the museum, structurally as well as in exhibition organization and labeling. It was intended to use a thematic framework highlighted by commentaries by African and Caribbean residents in London along with more traditional labels. The basic layout of African Worlds starts at the primary entrance with a display of Cameroon brasses, a fine cement lion by Nigerian Sunday Akpan, and a welcoming text. Continuing forward in a clockwise path, the left wall has several reconstructed shrines--a Haitian vodou altar (installed by Phil Cope), a "Mammi Wata" vodoun shrine from Benin (installed by Keith Nicklin and Jill Salmons), and a Brazilian candomble altar for Ogun (installed by Tania Tribe). Past the old museum entrance one next finds a wall devoted to ancient Egypt (an "innovation" to which we shall return) as well as a few contemporary oil paintings by Yoruba artists. Moving past the doorway to the Centenary Gallery, the next wall has the museum's excellent collection of eight Benin bronze plaques housed in well-lit cases with text panels by Joseph Eborieme. Next are a pair of life-size cement human figures by Sunday Akpan.

The center of the room is dominated by a novel raised structure whose severe angles purposely contrast to the balcony and vaulted ceiling of the original space. One is tempted to see this extraordinary construction as an "African ark" of sorts, which seems frozen in midstream. One can walk around it to view cases on the "outer" walls or board the structure via ramp-ways to view the interior section's display cases and view the wall displays from the open railed sections. These displays are not organized in any geographical order; for example, on the outside "wall" facing the Benin bronzes there are small cases with Ethiopian crowns, Egyptian metal arts, and a Kota reliquary. Next is a massive Igbo Ijele masquerade which was commissioned by Dr. Emmanuel Arinze, one of the consultants to the exhibition. This mask, accompanied by a video clip, is free-standing, as are several Dogon and Bwa masks.

Very simply, African Worlds presents an excellent collection of African arts. West and Central African arts may dominate but there are fine items from other parts of the continent as well. There are exceptional pieces, such as Yoruba gelede masks and ibeji figures, Ekoi and Ibibio masks and statues, and Cameroonian hats, among the West African selections. Central Africa is well-represented by wonderful Pende cups, Kuba and Songye masks, several nkisi, and a range of stools and headrests. Kikuyu shields and Tiriki masks along with the Ethiopian Coptic arts are among the East African objects.

In addition to its very important permanent collection of African arts, the Horniman Museum also has an active program of smaller temporary exhibits and an exceptional outreach program for local schools. The temporary exhibits of Summer, 2005, were in conjunction with the city-wide Africa 05 program, of which the recent AEGIS Conference of African Studies Centres at SOAS, University of London, was part. "West African Textiles," through January 2006, guest curated by John Picton, was based on cloth collected and documented by Nancy Stanfield and Keith Nicklin. These items are taken from the museum's textile and costume collection of more than 6,500 items. The display highlights some magnificent textiles and provides a very clear step-by-step demonstration of the creation of both dyed and print cloths and woven textiles. Also housed in the balcony above the permanent African collection a photography show, "The Kliptown Snappers: Photography from Soweto," was on view until October 31, 2005. This was an intriguing exhibit of work by local photographers from this famous South African township. Unfortunately, the lighting system was not well-coordinated with the photographs, which detracted from their impact.

The overall conceptual design of the African Worlds exhibit is fine but aspects are problematic in their execution. Certainly the original treatment, governed by a Victorian horror vacui that led to completely filling each case with unlabeled objects, was problematic, but at least most of the pieces were visible. This cannot be said of the current arrangement. Some cases simply do not permit good viewing of the objects, whether due to positioning or dim lighting. While rigid organization based on the traditional model of regional groupings may not be necessary, some information about the peoples in time and space is essential. The current exhibition format's goals are not clear, although thematic groupings are intended. Commentaries by members of the African Diaspora are valuable but should not replace more basic "grounding" for the average museum goer. The lack of guidance with maps and more wall texts risks perpetuation of the stereotypes of African cultures as timeless, its peoples as changeless, and its artists as anonymous. While some sections of the exhibition, such as the Benin bronzes, the recent shrine installations, and the educational programs, contrast to these problems, much does not. We are too often faced with objects freed from time or space contexts. They are literally "adrift" in their African ark. One is certainly pleased to have ancient Egypt reunited with the rest of Africa, as well as Coptic Christian and Muslim arts of the continent. It is also interesting to have an alternative juxtaposition of arts rather than the usual geographical model. Still, at the risk of appearing "old school," I am a great fan of maps and honestly believe strangers to African arts need some sort of orientation. Another problem which must be noted is the video monitors scattered about the hall. While these can be welcome additions which provide much needed contextualization, especially for masks, there is nothing more depressing than broken monitors. In different visits over several years, at each visit at least two of the four monitors were out of commission.

A noteworthy aspect to the Horniman Museum is the presence of examples of its extensive African holdings displayed in other galleries. Entering the Music Gallery, one is greeted by a video clip by Keith Nicklin of Yoruba Egungun dancers. This exhibit is one of the most successful displays I have ever seen. While one is initially overwhelmed by the sheer volume of spectacular musical instruments from around the world, many are accessible via interactive videos projected onto horizontal displays which allow the visitor to view further information about the individual instruments as well as to hear them. A large range of African musical instruments are on display.

In the Centenary Hall, another very modern but very dimly lit display area, different African arts are scattered among the renovated Victorian presentations of the early stages of the Horniman collection. This hall presents an intriguing, almost postmodernist interpretation of the old "Cabinet of Curiosities." Each display case, of very high-tech construction, is a fascinating jumble of arts and artifacts presenting different aspects of the Horniman's history. These are intriguing juxtapositions but highly problematic, for it is not clear what museum goers will gain from them. A sea of masks from around the world can still benefit from labeling. Here again, lighting is a problem

The last time I visited the African Worlds I was struck by the chaos and cacophony of a school group scrambling about the exhibit. Wonderful! Kids totally engaged in taking notes and making sketches. The Horniman is well-known for its outreach and educational programs. A highlight was "Inspiration Africa!" which was developed over two years by the Horniman Education Department with a local arts group Cloth of Gold. The dialogue and interaction generated by this program was truly inspiring and produced an excellent publication in 1999.

African Worlds opened in March 1999, after three years of intensive preparation. The Anthropology Consultative Panel consisted of Joseph Eboreime, Emmanuel Arinze, Kathryn Chan, Keith Nicklin, and John Mack. Fortunately, much of the preparation and discussion which led to this this exhibition is preserved in several publications. A special conference marked the opening: "Glimpses of Africa: Museums, Scholarship, and Pop Culture." These papers appeared in a special issue of the Journal of Museum Ethnography (No. 12, 2000). Later, another publication appeared that chronicled more of the preparation for this permanent exhibition and background of many of the pieces exhibited: Revisions: New Perspectives on the African Collections of the Horniman Museum, ed. Karel Arnaut (2000). Anthony Shelton's preface gives a history of the Horniman African collection. I add reference to these publications because they are not well known--the latter being a volume in the Museum's small but very important publishing program--and because, collectively, they provide a unique documentary background to this very important exhibition.

Many people over the years have contributed to the Horniman's collections and displays. One can still sense Keith Nicklin's humor in some of the eclectic and popular culture items and Anthony Shelton's imaginative touch in the novel "African ark" presentation. It should also be noted that Dr. Hassan Arero, Britain's first African museum curator, is now in charge of the African Worlds exhibition. While there are some distractions to the presentation, it remains that this is an exciting and innovative permanent exhibition with exciting and innovative temporary shows and outreach activities; but most importantly, the Horniman Museum has an excellent collection of African arts and is well worth the truly short (13 minute) train ride from central London to Forest Hills. We hope more will take advantage of this important museum.