Twelfth triennial symposium on African art, St. Thomas: a Broadened Scope. (first word).

The Triennial Symposium on African Art, organized by the Arts Council of the African Studies Association (ACASA), is the main forum bringing together scholars, educators, museum professionals, and artists whose focus is the visual and performance arts of Africa. Holding the Triennial in St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands last spring (April 25-29) highlighted the broadening scope of our discipline, and scheduling it to coincide with Carnival emphasized the total experience of African art. It also meant that the official program, whose committee I chaired, faced tough competition from exciting festival events. Yet most panels were very well attended.

We had forty-two panels, about the same number as for the previous meeting in New Orleans. However, because we decided to end the symposium early on Saturday to enable participants to attend the Adult Parade, we had to schedule five concurrent panels at each session, as opposed to the four in New Orleans (1998) and New York (1995) and only two in Iowa (1992). The intimacy of past gatherings was sacrificed for the sake of the greater diversity of themes and concerns. Luckily the resort-like venue meant that there was ample opportunity for friendly interaction.

At previous Triennials many panels were focused on a specific ethnic group or geographical region. The meeting in St Thomas included only one ethnic-based panel. The shift to topics with a broad geographical or temporal scope signals a more mature phase in the development of our discipline, one that incorporates a comparative perspective that has often been lacking in the study of African art.

The Caribbean location called for an examination of the larger geographical distribution of African and African-derived artistic traditions. The conference theme, "Transitions, Passages and Confluences: Exploring the Arts of Africa and the Diaspora," emphasized the dynamic nature of these traditions and unified the various threads that ran through the numerous panels. The African presence in the arts of the New World is not a new concern, but it had never been featured so prominently at a meeting organized by ACASA, whose focus has been on the African continent. Topics ranged from "Yoruba Influences in African Diaspora Art" to "Atlantic Rim Performance Arts," the latter a sequence of three panels organized by John Nunley and Robert Nicholls. Several presentations from that group, as well as those of the panel "Crosstalk: Cultural and Artistic Influences across the Atlantic" (chaired by Michael D. Harris), moved beyond the familiar discussion of African "retentions" to exploration of an exciting arena of exchanges, where Caribbean and African American cultural practices are just as likely to influence the arts of the African continent as African elements are to appear in the New World. For example, John Collins of the University of Ghana demonstrated that Caribbean musical influences are of considerable historical depth in west Africa.

A number of panels dealing with Caribbean topics drew considerable participation from scholars residing in the Caribbean who had not participated in previous ACASA symposiums. They introduced the "regular" Triennial audience to many new topics, including the history of Calypso, the art of Rastafarians, and contemporary Caribbean art.

I was encouraged by the scarcity of a previously dominant paradigm in the study of the African American cultural relationship with Africa: the essentialist "mindless retention" approach that denies agency to artists in the New World. Clearly it is no longer sufficient to point to a formal or other affinity between an African American art form and an African one to prove a derivation. Instead, a growing number of studies focus on the very deliberate and often strategic use of African heritage in the art of African American and Caribbean artists. Betty Rodriguez-Feo examined the influence of Cuba's Angolan adventure on the perception of Africa in Cuban art. Contributors to Mikelle Smith OmariTunkara's panel discussed "Art, Identity, and Agency in Africa and the Diaspora." Krista Thompson and Jacqueline Francis's panel, "Travelers to the Stream: African-American Artist-Travelers to the Caribbean, 1930-1960," summed up much of this discussion by examining a number of these artists who hoped to draw inspiration from what they saw as the Caribbean's "Africanity."

Beyond the question of historical connections and directions of influences, the opportunity to examine African, Caribbean, and African American artistic expressions in one setting allowed a discussion of issues that had not yet been rigorously examined. To me, that was the most exciting aspect of working on the program and of the meeting itself. Adding an African Diaspora or Caribbean paper to a continent-based panel proposal provided a wider comparative perspective and brought up new questions and methods of investigation that may have been discussed in one area and not in another. For example, for years Caribbean-art specialists have examined the problems involved in using cultural heritage in the service of tourism, and the impact of government policies on art and culture. These issues are quite new to the discussion of the African continent. A panel organized by a group of South African scholars examined "Craft/Art Projects in Africa, the Caribbean and Other Localities of the African Diaspora: Remedy or Malady?" Sidney Kasfir organized two panels titled "Over Here and Back There: Global Approaches to Understanding Locality." Papers in Matthew Christensen and L. Lloys Frates's panel, "Public Visual Culture and Collective Memory in Africa and the African Diaspora," focused on murals of Sierra Leone, contemporary Jamaican art, hotel art in Ethiopia, popular art in Mozambique, and the African Burial Ground in New York City.

The overt political dimensions of rural art forms have rarely been studied. This is another area where cross-fertilization between Caribbean and African art studies may prove fruitful. The importance of the political dimension of Caribbean performance has been amply demonstrated. The subversive message of Caribbean Carnivals, their challenge to political authority, and the attempts of governments to bring them under control were made very clear by the keynote speaker, Hollis ("The Mighty Chalkdust") Liverpool, a director of the Carnival Institute in Trinidad and Tobago, a lecturer at the University of the West Indies, and five-time Calypso Monarch of Trinidad and Tobago. His lecture, "The Road Make to Walk on Carnival Day," punctuated by the performance of several songs, was directed as much at the governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Dr. Charles W. Turnbull, who was in the audience, as at the conference attendees. His message was clear: if Carnival participants in Trinidad or in the Virgin Islands are not granted the freedom to perform in the way that they require, they would claim their freedom by any means necessary.

I do not mean to give the impression that regions beyond the continent itself dominated the conference. Out of 153 papers, 88 focused on African art, 28 on Caribbean, and 21 on African American. At least 16 papers clearly crossed from one region to another. Thus, the majority of presentations dealt with art and performance on the continent. They did so, however, with an increased awareness of Africa's place in a global world. The current discourse on globalization is sometimes carried on in a polemical style uncharacteristic of past discussion in African art studies. However, it points to the increased need to incorporate the study of the local into the global. In addition to the abovementioned panels organized by Sidney Kasfir, "Performing Cosmopolitanism: History and the Politics of Being from Somewhere Else," chaired by Bob White, and numerous papers in other panels dealt with issues of globalization. Carol Magee's paper in a panel organized by Magee and Erin-Moira West ("Imagining Africa: What Is at Stake and for Whom?") explored the use of kente cloth on Barbie dolls, and Victoria Rovine and Kristyne Loughran organized "Wearable Tradition: Africa and the Idea of Africa in Contemporary Fashion."

Despite previous interest in the contemporary art of the continent, it was not until this meeting that the dichotomy between traditional and modern forms of artistic expression was forcefully challenged. It has often seemed odd to me that the subject of my own study, rural masquerade performance in its very contemporary political context, is considered "traditional." While performers and audience understand the contemporary dimensions of masking, scholars continue to classify a rural setting and masks as "traditional." Laurel Birch Aguilar's panel examined "Masks: Transformations, Identities, and Adaptability in Contemporary Society" while Elisabeth Cameron's explored" `Power Objects' in the New Millennium." dele jegede's panel, "Boundaries," looked at artistic forms that defy an easy classification as traditional or modern, and Peter Bloom's examined new genres such as video production in Ghana and the decoration of urban living rooms in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

A central concern of previous Triennials was the need for a code of ethics defining the involvement of scholars and museums with dealers, collectors, and the art market. The issue is as pertinent as ever, but the discussion seems dormant at the moment. ACASA will undoubtedly need to revisit it in the future.

Because the location made the conference more expensive to attend, the ACASA board made a strong effort to support graduate students and scholars residing in Africa and the Caribbean. Thanks to strong commitments from several universities and the twenty-one travel grants awarded by ACASA, we probably had more graduate students at St. Thomas than at any previous Triennial. Together with recent graduates, they organized many of the most interesting panels and contributed decisively to the event's success.

The somewhat remote locale did mean that the Triennial was attended by fewer people from the margins of the discipline, such as collectors, museum personnel and general enthusiasts. On the other hand, we were able to interact with local residents who have not been part of ACASA. A number of Virgin Islanders were tremendously helpful in the organization of the symposium, and one hopes that they will continue to be involved in our meetings.

The broadened scope of the St. Thomas Triennial presents a challenge for future meetings. Many scholars and artists whose concern is the African Diaspora, especially in the United States, are not (yet) members of ACASA or more general participants in our discourse. While the symposium's attendance has grown over the years, most of this growth comes from the core of ACASA: a fairly homogeneous group of graduates of the few centers for the training of scholars of African art and their students. About 70% of the papers were given by professors or graduates of Columbia, Emory, Harvard, Indiana, Iowa, SOAS, Madison, and Yale, or by students of these graduates. About 85% of the participants were scholars and artists residing in the United States. While this group reflects a great diversity of methods and concerns and demonstrates an ability to grow, such "in-breeding" cannot be altogether healthy. Expanding beyond those boundaries is clearly desirable for future meetings.

The conference concluded with an awards banquet punctuated by masquerade performances and a spectacular display of fireworks over Charlotte Amalie Bay. ACASA gave a Special Founder's Award to Richard Long, who established the Triennial tradition. In recognition of the venue, a Caribbean Artist's Award was given to John Cupid of the National Carnival Commission of Trinidad and Tobago. Cupid's tireless efforts helped save Trinidad's Old-Time Mas' from extinction. A Virgin Island Artist's Award was given to Dorothy Elskoe. Her works, together with those of other local artists, were featured at an exhibition organized to coincide with the Triennial: "Africa in the Heart of the Virgin Islands."

The ACASA Leadership Award was given to two senior members of our community: John Picton, who worked for the then Department of Antiquities in Nigeria in the 1960s and teaches at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London; and Herbert M. Cole, now Professor Emeritus, of the University of California, Santa Barbara. The Book Award Committee chaired by Victoria Rovine honored the following books with an Arnold Rubin Outstanding Publication Award: Inventing Masks: Agency and History in the Art of the Central Pende by Zoe Strother (books by one or two authors); Wrapped in Pride: Ghanaian Kente and African American Identity, edited by Doran H. Ross (books by three or more authors); Art and Life in Africa: Recontextualizing African Art in the Cycle of Life, a CD-ROM developed by Christopher D. Roy and L. Lee McIntyre (honorable mention); A History of Art in Africa, a textbook by a team of writers including Monica Blackmun Visona, Robin Poynor, Herbert M. Cole, and Michael D. Harris (honorable mention).

The Triennial Symposium was successful because of the determined efforts of many people. The ACASA Board and especially its president, Martha Anderson, worked tirelessly on all aspects of organizing the meeting. Rebecca Green was in charge of registration and financial aspects and edited the conference brochure, while Robert Soppelsa took care of many of the details. Babatunde Lawal and Carol Magee assisted in the selection of travel grant recipients. Michael Conner chaired the Awards Committee, and Polly Nooter Roberts and Herbert M. Cole headed the fund-raising effort. But Robert Nicholls of the University of the Virgin Islands was the vital force behind the meeting. From proposing the Virgin Islands as the host site to securing support from local agencies and working closely with Martha Anderson and the Program Committee, to attending to the endless details of local organization, Robert mastered it all.

ELI BENTOR, Assistant Professor of African Art History at Appalachian State University in North Carolina, served as chair of the Program Committee for the 2001 Triennial Symposium on African Art.