78
Africa/Americas
LOS ANGELES—Africa/Americas: Photographic Portraits
by Pierre Verger presents thirty-two striking
black-and-white images by renowned French photographer
and anthropological researcher Pierre Verger
(1902–1996). At the Fowler Museum at UCLA from
September 10, 2017–January 21, 2018, it is the fi rst
solo museum exhibition of Verger’s work in the United
States.
Verger traveled extensively during his prolifi c career,
and Africa/Americas includes photographs from the
Republic of Benin, Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, Nigeria, Suriname,
and the United States. However, his central focus
was the exploration of enduring continuities linking
peoples and cultures of West Africa and the African
Diaspora. Over the course of fi ve decades, he took
an estimated 65,000 photographs with his Rolleifl ex
camera, depicting individuals and groups in humanistic,
light-drenched portraits. His approach to photography
placed great emphasis on the beauty of the human
form as encountered in scenes of everyday life.
RIGHT: Pierre Verger
(French, 1902–1996),
Holi, Republic of Benin.
1950s–1960s.
Photograph. 40 x 40 cm.
© Fundação Pierre Verger.
Courtesy of the Fowler Museum
at UCLA.
RIGHT: Miguel Cabrera
(1695–1768), Virgin of the
Apocalypse.
New Spain (Mexico).
Late 17th century.
Oil on canvas.
Courtesy of Santa Barbara Historical
Museum. Given in Memory of
Edward Orena de Koch.
BELOW: Olla.
Chumash, Siwaya village.
AD 800–1800.
Steatite.
Courtesy of Santa Barbara Historical
Museum. Gift of the Dr. Irving Willis
Estate.
ABOVE: Pierre Verger (French, 1902–1996), Democratic
Republic of the Congo, 1952.
Photograph. 30 x 30 cm.
© Fundação Pierre Verger.
Courtesy of the Fowler Museum at UCLA.
ABOVE: Stirrup-spout
effigy vessel with serpent
and frog. Moche, North
Coast Peru. AD 200–500.
Slip-painted terracotta.
Mingei International Museum,
purchase made possible by a
generous gift from Akaloa Resource
Foundation, inv. 2000-05-153.
Photo: Katie Gardner.
Art of the Americas
SAN DIEGO—Art of the Americas: Mesoamerican,
Pre-Columbian Art from Mingei’s Permanent Collection
is the most comprehensive presentation to
date of the Mingei International Museum’s signifi cant
holdings of objects made and used by people from
the ancient cultures of Mexico and Central and South
America. Objects featured in the exhibition straddle
cultural boundaries, from the Olmec and Maya in
Mexico to the Moche in Peru, as well as numerous
localized ancient traditions and cultures, such as the
indigenous Teuchitlán, Zoque, Huastec, and West
Mexico societies. The works range from objects made
for ritual and ceremonial use—fi gurines, vessels and
sculptures depicting gods, shamans, animals, marine
life, and fl oral motifs—to objects for domestic use,
including jars, bowls, spindle whorls, ocarinas (wind
instruments), roller stamps used for decorating cloth,
and adornments such as beads and ear spools. A
rare collection of Maya textile fragments and ancient
beads will also be presented in this exhibition, which
will be on view from September 16, 2017–February
18, 2018.
In the Age of Contact
SANTA BARBARA—Sacred Art in the
Age of Contact: Chumash and Latin
American Traditions in Santa Barbara
will bring together a diverse body of
objects from Santa Barbara-area collections dating
from roughly fi fty years following the fi rst contact between
the native Chumash and the Spanish in 1769.
Together, the materials presented in the exhibition will
offer an encompassing picture of the relationship
between art and spirituality within both the
Chumash and the Spanish traditions
while demonstrating the sustained
deployment of Chumash visual
systems by native artists in early
colonial visual culture. These relationships
still have immediate
implications on the cultural dynamics
of Santa Barbara County
today. The exhibition will be presented
at two venues, the Art,
Design & Architecture Museum
of UC Santa Barbara and the
Santa Barbara Historical Museum
from September 16–December
8, 2017.
MUSEUM NEWS