The Detroit Institute of Arts.

The African art collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts did not emerge as a hallmark of the museum until after the 1920s, when the DIA's director, Dr. William R. Valentiner, began to build upon the modest bequest of objects from one of its original founders, Frederick Stearns. Valentiner cultivated a circle of enthusiastic local collectors, among them Robert H. Tannahill and Edsel Ford, who amassed fine personal collections of African art that would constitute the DIA's core corpus in this area. Some of the earliest acquisitions were unique works with extraordinary provenance, such as several Kuba vessels collected by Leo Frobenius and a Guro female figure from the collection of Tristan Tzara, an associate of Picasso's. The African holdings have grown substantially since the 1920s-1930s and now boast more than 300 pieces.

The 1960s saw the formation of the auxiliary group called the African Art Committee. Under the leadership of Arthur D. Coar, it fostered local support for African art and ushered in another round of important acquisitions. Probably the most significant individual contribution was the 1967 donation by Justice and Mrs. G. Mennen-Williams, who had assembled a fine collection during their years in Africa, when the Justice served as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs. With the subsequent generous bequest of Eleanor Clay Ford and the hiring of Michael Kan as Curator of African Art in the 1970s, the DIA made some of its most important acquisitions, pieces that reshaped and expanded the collection's scope.

Today the DIA's African art collection, comprising works from nearly one hundred sub-Saharan African cultures, ranks among the finest in the United States. This richly diverse corpus continues to grow through purchases and donations from local collectors. Several noteworthy pieces were added in the last year. These latest acquisitions fill significant gaps in the museum's African holdings, strengthen the collection's international stature, and bolster educational outreach in diverse ways.

The DIA is not only undergoing a total transformation of its physical structure, which comprises more than 160,000 square feet of space, but is also working toward a more accessible and appealing presentation of its collections. The changes will encompass building renovation, realignment of the curatorial departments, and a complete reinstallation of the permanent collection, all to be completed in late 2006.

Janus-faced head

Akan culture, Ghana, ca. 18th century

Terracotta, 22.9cm (9")

Museum Purchase, Friends of African and African American Art Fund, 2002.178

This sculpture's finely featured faces are in a style similar to that of other works attributed to the famous eighteenth-century archaeological site of Twifo-Hemang. Twifo Hemang produced some of the most engaging examples of Akan clay portraiture. Akan commemorative tradition focuses on capturing the likeness of the deceased, and heads constitute the preponderance of such memorial portraits. It is not unusual to see busts or heads serving as lugs for lids of large funerary vessels, especially among the Kwahu subgroup. A dark green blemish suggests that the DIA head fell on that side after breaking off a bust, figure, or lid.

Janus-faced human heads are rare in Akan terracotta sculpture; thus far, only one other example has been published. While they may be considered anomalous (Herbert Cole and Doran H. Ross, The Arts of Ghana [Berkeley: University of California Press], 1977:227), such heads express an Akan penchant for individualizing deceased persons with powers of clairvoyance. This portrait is the finer and more complete of the two double-faced examples in this style.

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Ceremonial hat (emedot)

Karamojong culture, Uganda/Kenya

Earth, pigment, ostrich feathers, human hair, beads; 26cm x 25.4cm (10 1/4" x 10")

Gift of Dede and Oscar Feldman in honor of Bob Kan, 2002.211

Coiffures play a critical role in convoying status and identifying members of particular age-sets in Karamojong society For males, the insertion of ostrich feathers into such distinctive caps not only expresses their individuality but also represents their strength, masculinity, and courage.

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Memorial screen

lie of Kalabari, Lower Niger Delta, Nigeria, 19th century

Wood, wicker, metal, pigment; 121.9cm x 889cm x 38.1cm (48" x 35" x 15")

Museum Purchase, Robert Tannahill Fund, 2003.21

This piece exhibits striking stylistic affinities with the renowned British Museum collection of memorial screens (nduein fobara) attributed to the Pekia family atelier, which operated in Abonnema village from the 1850s through 1916. In 1916 the production of nduein fobara ceased in the lie area when the self-styled local prophet Elijah II was said to have convinced most Ijo families to bum their ancestral screens (Roy Siober and Roslyn A. Walker, African Art in the Cycle of Life [Washington, DC : Smithsonian Institution Press], 1987). The British colonial administrator Lt. Percy Talbot, then residing in Abonnema village, succeeded in salvaging eleven pieces, nine of which ended up in Iha British Museum The remaining two were acquired by the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, England, and the Minneapolis Museum of Art With this purchase, the DIA becomes only the second US museum to own one of these rare artworks The screen may be an additional example that survived the destruction in 1916. It has been documented in situ in Abonnema, where it was acquired from eiders of the village's Shakapu Trading Society

Such screens were kept by the male dominated Ekine ruling society in trade houses or by lineages When an important male member of a lineage died, a screen was made to house his spirit, which resided in his forehead--hence the name nduein fobara, "forehead of the dead." Kalabari believe that the forehead controls a person's success in life. The screens' rectilinear format, collage like approach to representation, and European joinery techniques and paint reflect the varied cultural influences introduced by the European presence. The ancestor, often the largest of the three figures, is depicted in the European top hat and tailcoat (whose chalked outline is visible in the DIA's example) adopted by wealthy Kalabari traders. These traders played strategic roles as middlemen in the Niger Delta's nearly five centuries of commercial dealings with Europeans and were among the prime beneficiaries of this trade.

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Maternal figure (gwandusu)

Bamana culture, Mali, probably 19th century Wood, 129.5cm (51")

Museum Purchase, African, Oceanic and New World Cultures Art General Fund, Ralph H.

Booth Fund, Mary Martin Semmes Fund, and Joseph H. Parson Fund, 2003.66

Known variously as gwandusu, gwandenw, or jomogoniw, sculptures of this type served as religious icons in a fertility cult that is widely dispersed among the Bamana. The piece seems to have been carved from a species of hardwood. Another work, identical though much smaller, has been published in Bamana: The Art of Existence in Mali (New York: Museum for African Art, New York, cat 125); it has been carbon dated to between A.D. 1432 and 1644, This piece may also be a pre-twentieth-century work, although it has yet to undergo a similar test.

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Divination chain (opere)

Yoruba culture, Nigeria, early to mid-20th century

Metal, ivory, fiber, glass beads; 109.2cm (43")

Museum Purchase, Friends of African and African American Art, 2002.179

Ordinary opere comprise simple seed shells; the most prestigious examples are made entirely of colored seed beads preferred by the gods. This piece is unusual not only because of its fine metalwork but also because of its combination of rare antique blue glass beads and several carved human faces in ivory. The faces probably represent the Yoruba god Eshu, who mediates the human and spirit worlds and plays a prominent role in the divination process.

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Kente cloth (adwenasa: "I have exhausted my skills")

Asante culture, Ghana, late 19th century

Silk, 309.9cm x 185.4cm (122" x 73")

Anonymous Figt, 2002.195

Kente cloth

Asante culture, Ghana, 20th century

Cotton, indigo dye; 416.6cm x 307.3cm (164" x 121")

Anonymous Gift, 2002.194

Pre-nineteenth-century Akan kente cloths had a predominantly blue-and-white color scheme. As the European trade in the 1800s introduced the Akan to synthetically dyed yarns, kente designs became more colorful. Most contemporary kente cloths reflect the ongoing experimentation with colors. The most complex of such weaves is the type called adwenasa (see top textile) Adwenasa, "I have exhausted my skills," is the weaver's way of expressing his satisfaction with the completed cloth--that it is indeed his greatest achievement. However. blue-and-white kente textiles are still considered to be important attire for religious and other somber occasions, and they continue to be woven today (see center textile).

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Kente cloth with tortoise-shell design (akyekyerekyi)

Asante culture, Ghana, early 20th century

Cotton, indigo dye; 376cm x 322.6cm (148" x 127")

Anonymous Gift, 2002.193

Abstract representations of animals abound among the Akan peoples. The owner would have reserved this cloth for somber occasions, when self-ornamentation is subdued This design, called "tortoise shell," symbolizes protection, but could also project the wearer's ability to weather challenges.

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Woman's sash (adanuvor)

Ewe culture, Ghana, late 19th century

Cotton, natural dyes; 174cm x 50.2cm (68 1/2" x 19 3/4)

Anonymous Gift, 2002.189

Ewe people consider fine woven textiles as status symbols Cloths frequently serve to advertise their owners' individuality, religious affiliation, political position, and wealth. This cloth's animal motifs constitute a pictorial poem about the owner Fish and cattle communicate her wealth, the parrot her clan totem and the snake her spiritual prowess The crab frog, and goat represent proverbs.

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Soul guardian or protective figure (aklama)

Ewe (Anlo subgroup), Ghan, 20th century

Wood, pigment; 27.9cm (11")

Gift of the Honorable Jack Faxon, 2001.170

This sculpture provides a point of visible contact with the owner's guardian spirit The Anlo Ewe believe that, from birth to death, every person is endowed with a "shadow," a spirit force that dwells outside and yet is inextricable from its owner. The aklama is said to be an invisible gift from the Supreme Creator; its task is to assist the individual in all of life's pursuits An aklama that is properly eared for with frequent offerings can ensure its owner's prosperity The figure is often housed in a specially built cylindrical cement altar.

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Asafo flag

Fante culture, Ghana, early 20th century

Cotton, 160cm x 81.3cm (63" x 32")

Anonymous Gift, 2002.190

Asafo flag

Fante culture, Ghana, late 19th century

Silk brocade, 155cm x 96.5cm (61" x 38")

Anonymous Gift, 2002.196

Flags like those were inspired by European models imported into Ghana before 1900 For self-defense, each Fante town developed military companies called Asafo, based on European military regiments Having observed Europeans use flags in combat Asafo groups adopted flags as their primary emblems but created the designs to illustrate local concerns

In the topmost flag, the leopard and crocodile communicate a proverb: "Would you rather be eaten by the leopard or the crocodile? Either way is painful" In other words, every decision carries a bad consequence.

It appears that Asafo companies' interest in European military symbolism went far beyond flag use; European heraldic imagery became equally significant in projecting power, as indicated by the flag at canter right. Doran Ross's research has shed light on Fante appropriations of similar imagery in diverse contexts ("The Heraldic Lion in Akan Art A Study of Motif Assimilation," Metropolitan Museum Journal, no. 16 [1982], pp. 165-80)

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Triptych: Icon of the Virgin Mary

Oil on olive wood panel, 48.3cm x 58.8cm x 2.5cm (19" x 23 1/8" x 1")

Ethiopia, Gondar style, late 17th century

Founders Society Purchase, Friends of African and African American Art in Honor of Michael Kan, 2002.3

This richly painted icon is among the finest examples of Ethiopian Christian art. II retains some of the distinctive traits of the art of early Christianity, which arrived in Ethiopia in the fourth century A devotional object, the piece may have hung in a chapel. It is in the Gender style, which began in the late seventeenth century, when ornamental and calligraphically impressive manuscripts were produced Gender remains perhaps the best documented site of this painting genre.

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Royal gold necklace

Akan culture, Ghana

Gold, fiber cord; diameter 20.3cm (8")

Gift of Catherine C. Blackwell, T2003.336

The Akan people of Ghana and Cote d'lvoire consider such distinctive necklaces an important item of chiefly dress. Consisting of assorted gold beads that have been randomly strung together, this type of ornament was documented by European visitors in the fifteenth century.

Today it is frequently worn on festive occasions, both to enhance the leader's appearance and to provide a source of spiritual protection, its name, suman, or amulet, suggests that it is fashioned after a more popular variant that often comprises beads and organic elements, including teeth, shells, wood pieces, and bones Like these diverse components, the necklace's medium, gold, is considered to possess protective powers.

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Nil O. Quarcoopome

Curator of African Art and Department Head, Africa, Oceania and Indigenous Americas