MORE EVENTSMuseum Store
Featuring many one-of-a-kind crafts, household and decorative objects. Items found in our store are produced exclusively for the Museum by artisans and craftspeople and imported directly from Africa.
Your purchase at our store supports local African artisans and museum programs.
Set, Series and Ensembles in African Art
Sets, Series and Ensembles in African Art presents a fundamental, but unexpected, aspect of African art—objects which were intended to be used together, emphasizing the importance of their function and meaning as part of a group. Displayed in sets and series are many important objects, seen here in their original groupings as shrine sculptures, tomb posts, divination equipment, and mask ensembles. Presented as they were intended to be seen or used, and accompanied by numerous field photographs, the objects can be more fully appreciated and understood as an expression of the cosmology and social hierarchy. The fascinating contexts are lucidly explained and add immeasurably to the interest of each object.
Exhibition catalogue by George Nelson Preston, with introduction by Susan Vogel and catalogue by Polly Nooter. Essay, Sets, Series & Ensembles by George Nelson Preston. Published and distributed by The Center for African Art and Harry N. Abrams, Inc., July 1985. 96 pp. Cloth: ISBN 0-8109-16371. LCCN: 85-7791.