Exhibit showcases accents

Personal Accents: Accessories Around the World, an exhibit featured in the Mathers Museum of World Cultures, explores the meaning of accessories found in different cultures and their significance to people.

Curated by Stephanie Smith, a graduate assistant in the exhibits department and a graduate student in the arts administration program, the exhibit houses a collection of both old and new accessories with a wide range of purposes.

“Mathers gave me the option of choosing what I wanted to do when I first started working there,” Smith said. “In January, I got to go through all their collections and got some ideas, which I ran by them. I came up with the accessories idea because they are something that I like and something that everybody uses. Accessories are something that everybody can relate to.”

The exhibit is located toward the back of the museum in an octagonal-shaped room. Three benches form an incomplete square in the middle of the room, so people may sit and rest as they explore the artifacts.

The first case displays accessories ranging from a Ghanaian funeral hat to a Brazilian cane. The funeral hat is made out of cowrie shells, palm fiber and leather. Two horns rise from either side of the base. Small white cowrie shells cover the headpiece. Red, black and white strips of cloth hang from the front and back with leather tassels dangling from the ends.

The Brazilian cane, though not as decorated as the Ghanaian funeral hat, is important to the people of Brazil. “Preto Velho,” translated as “old black man,” uses a cane like the one featured.

The significance of the cane rises from an old legend and Umbanda, an afro-Brazilian religion that blends ideas from African religions, Catholicism, Spiritism, Kardecism and native folklore. A “Preto Velho” who uses the cane is wise, peaceful and compassionate.

The next section of the exhibit displays “Unique Materials.” An Ecuadorean apron, specifically associated with the Jivaro people, hangs inside the case. Its vibrant blue, red, green and yellow feathers make it stand out., with a small toucan head protruding from the middle of the apron.

“The apron is my favorite thing in the whole exhibit because it is so neat,” Smith said. “You would never be able to wear something like that today and get away with it, at least not in America.”

Other accessories in this exhibit include a necklace made out of seeds and jaguar teeth from the Cofani people of Ecuador and a Suriname necklace with real, dead birds dangling from the base.

“‘Unique Materials’ is definitely the most fun,” Smith said. “That part of the exhibit holds some of the most unique accessories.”

In the “Ceremonial and Religious” section, a flywhisk lies on an elevated platform. Made out of lion and cow tails, owl feet and leather, the whisk was created by the Jukun people in Nigeria.

Regarded as a chief’s symbol and usually carried in ceremonial settings, the flywhisk is used to keep both flies and witches away.

The “Functional” accessories include a large blue military cape and coat hang as an example of 1890s military attire.

The “Female” accessories section contains several objects related to a woman’s everyday attire, including a parasol from 1920. The parasol is made out of delicate silk, metal and wood and was placed in the exhibit courtesy of the IU Elizabeth Sage Historic Costume Collection.

A top hat made in 1932 out of beaver skin, leather and cloth rests in the “Male” accessories section, and sits in the left-hand corner above the other male-related accessories.

The final section of the exhibit is “Accessories Representing Status.” A 20th centuray knife, called an “Ikul knife” by the Kuba people from the Democratic Republic of Congo, lies against the wall in its case .

The last case sits at the edge of the room. Titled “Contemporary,” the case holds numerous accessories carried by people today. Familiar objects including a bike helmet, a graduation robe and cap, gloves, and a winter hat sit in the case.