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African cultures. A thematic arrangement permits
visitors to see works of diverse media from
beadwork to photography, many on view for
the first time. The arrangement of art in the gallery
is by subject: architecture, masks, and performance,
including masks by Mende, Kuba,
Pende, and Dan sculptors (figs. 3 and 9); personal
objects, including boxes, combs, and textiles
(figs. 5 and 6); weapons from the Democratic
Republic of the Congo; and ritual objects
(fig. 8) and objects of prestige, including an ivory
scepter (fig. 4) and a Yoruba beaded crown.
All works were arranged in order to illustrate
the diverse forms of artistic expression and to
facilitate educational programs. The gifts of art
on view from the collection are from Dr. Hal J.
and E. B. Drinkhaus, Marc Leo Felix, Anthony
Plowright, the Owen D. Mort Jr. Collection of
African Art with support from the Marriner S.
Eccles Foundation for the Marriner S. Eccles
Collection of Masterworks, and several generous
fund donors.
The Pacific collection is smaller in number
than Africa, but exemplifies several major art
forms and dates from the eighteenth century to
recent times. The new installation represents
an artistic journey through parts of the region.
FIG. 8 (left):
Eshu staff.
Yoruba, Nigeria.
20th century.
Wood. H: 59.4 cm.
UMFA, purchased with funds from
the Marriner S. Eccles Foundation for
the Marriner S. Eccles Collection of
Masterworks, inv. 1994.003.001.
FIG. 9 (below):
Mask, mukyeem.
Kuba, DR Congo.
20th century.
Wood, pigment, beads, cowrie shells,
cloth, raffia. H: 59.7 cm.
UMFA, the Owen D. Mort Jr.
Collection of African Art assisted
by the George S. and Dolores
Doré Eccles Foundation, inv.
1985.052.815.
More than forty objects from the permanent
collection are displayed. The core objects in
the Pacific collection were purchased from the
painter and collector Ulfert Wilke in 1983. Several
African, Mesoamerican, and Native American
sculptures were also part of this purchase,
including some of the African objects also now
on view. Wilke, an artist and later museum director
in Iowa, started collecting in the 1950s
from well-known dealers of the time such as
Ludwig Bretschneider, Maurice Bonnefoy, and