Hair in African Art and Culture brings together over 50 objects from collections around the world, including masks and figures, combs, hairpins, beads, headrests, and contemporary African barbershop signs to illustrate the enormous significance of hair within African society. The exhibition is divided into sections that address specific roles of hair in African society, exploring hair as: an indicator of social status and religious function, a symbol of age and authority, a traditional aesthetic element, a statement of contemporary style, a substance with supernatural power and spiritual import, and an object of beauty and adornment.

Throughout the exhibition, the intricately carved hair styles in the artworks mirror the traditional styles worn by men and women in field photographs. The exhibition concludes with paintings, advertising boards, and photographs relating to contemporary African and African-American hair styles that explore cross-cultural influences and retentions.

The late Dr. Roy Sieber, guest co-curator of the exhibition, was professor emeritus at Indiana University, and taught at various universities in the United States and Africa. He also served as the associate director of collections and research at the National Museum of African Arts, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Co-curator Frank Herreman was deputy director of exhibitions and publications at the Museum for African Art.

Hair in African Art and Culture toured to the following venues: Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University, California (2000); APEX Museum, Atlanta, Georgia (2000); California African-American Museum, Los Angeles, California (2001); Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American History, Detroit, Michigan (2001); Diggs Gallery at Winston-Salem State University, North Carolina (2001); DuSable Museum of African-American History, Chicago, Illinois (2002); Indiana University Art Museum, Bloomington, Indiana (2002); and the Smith Robertson Museum & Cultural Center, Jackson, Mississippi (2002).