STRIKING IRON: An Interdisciplinary Symposium--November 9-10 at Fowler Museum at UCLA

Gassia Armenian Discussion

Type: Symposium
Date: November 9, 2018 to November 10, 2018
Location: California, United States
Subject Fields: African American History / Studies, African History / Studies, Anthropology, Archaeology, Art, Art History & Visual Studies

Striking Iron: An Interdisciplinary Symposium
Friday, November 9, 7pm
Saturday, November 10, 9:30am—6pm
Fowler Museum at UCLA, Lenart Auditorium

For a complete schedule and to register, visit http://ironsymposium.eventbrite.com

This two-part symposium explores iron in the context of its history, spiritual potencies, cultural roles and meanings, and artistic possibilities in Africa and its Diasporas. 

On Friday night, acclaimed visual artists Sokari Douglas Camp and Alison Saar talk about the centrality of metal to their artistic practices, followed by a conversation moderated by Fowler Museum Director Marla C. Berns. 

Saturday’s sessions feature an interdisciplinary range of distinguished speakers, including astronomer and director of the Griffith Observatory Ed Krupp, archaeologist Shadreck Chirikure, artist Tom Joyce, historians Candice Goucher and Colleen Kriger, art historian Rowland Abiodun, and anthropologist Ade Ofunniyin.

Friday November 9, 12pm: Join us for a Gallery Talk on bronze ofo with Philip M. Peek, guest co-curator of Summoning the Ancestors: Southern Nigerian Bronzes.

On View at the Fowler November 9–10:

Striking Iron: The Art of African Blacksmiths
Through December 30, 2018
Striking Iron is a major international traveling exhibition that reveals the history of invention and technical sophistication that led African blacksmiths to transform one of Earth’s most basic natural resources into objects of life-changing utility, empowerment, and astonishing artistry.  Striking Iron: The Art of African Blacksmiths is organized by the Fowler Museum at UCLA and its curatorial team is led by artist Tom Joyce, a MacArthur Fellow originally trained as a blacksmith, with co-curators Allen F. Roberts, UCLA Professor of World Arts and Cultures/Dance; Marla C. Berns, Shirley & Ralph Shapiro Director, Fowler Museum; William J. Dewey, Director, African Studies Program and Associate Professor of African Art History at Pennsylvania State University; and Henry J. Drewal, Evjue-Bascom Professor of Art History and Afro-American Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

World on the Horizon: Swahili Arts Across the Indian Ocean
October 21, 2018–February 10, 2019
This exhibition enters into the streets and homes of Swahili port towns and beyond, highlighting the arts of diplomacy and trade, the built environment and interior display, sociality and self-fashioning, spiritual knowledge and pious devotion. The arts on view speak to an outward-looking ethos that connects communities on the Swahili coast with faraway places, and reveals how people bring the world home. World on the Horizon was organized by Krannert Art Museum (KAM), University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign, and was curated by Prita Meier, Associate Professor of Art History at New York University, and Allyson Purpura, KAM Senior Curator and Curator of Global African Art.

Summoning the Ancestors: Southern Nigerian Bronzes
September 16, 2018–March 10, 2019
This Fowler in Focus exhibition celebrates the promised gift of two important collections of bronze bells and ofo amassed by Mark Clayton. Originating in southern Nigeria, the bells and ofo were used in a variety of ritual contexts. Summoning the Ancestors is guest curated by Nancy Neaher Maas, independent scholar, and Philip M. Peek, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, Drew University, New Jersey.

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Parking is available in UCLA Lot 4, 398 Westwood Plaza, directly off Sunset Blvd | $12/day
Rideshare drop-off 305 Royce Drive.

https://www.fowler.ucla.edu

Contact Email: erinconnors@arts.ucla.edu
URL: http://ironsymposium.eventbrite.com