More than 200 Kenyan art objects, from jewelry and containers to walking sticks, will be displayed in a new IU Art Museum exhibition beginning March 5.
“Arts of Kenya: Beauty in Traditional Forms” features objects from more than a dozen Kenyan ethnic groups, including the Boran and the Potok, with a focus on the arts of pastoral peoples.
The collection was recently acquired by the museum but was collected in Kenya in the 1970s by art dealer Ernie Wolfe III, according to a press release.
The pieces, many of which are no longer made or used, reflect the lives of people who once used them. Gourd and basketry containers, for example, were used to transport objects as pastoral people moved from place to place for the benefit of their herds. Other objects indicated personal status such as marriage.
The museum will also offer events in conjunction with the exhibition. An opening program March 4 will feature music by Voice Tatu, a group of Kenyan musicians in the Jacobs School of Music.
A searchable catalog of the collection will also be made available online March 4. More information is available at artmuseum.indiana.edu.
Jack Evans
