PASSAGES Traveling Exhibition
PASSAGES
AFRICAN CEREMONIES
Traveling Exhibition
This powerful exhibit of African tribal ceremonies reflects 40 years of commitment to preserving the endangered cultures and peoples of 90 tribes across Africa. Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher pay homage to the rituals that mark every important occasion in tribal life — birth, initiation, courtship, marriage, royal coronations, seasonal rituals, healing exorcisms, and death. These images are the result of a long, enduring and deeply respectful relationship with tribal peoples. This, combined with Beckwith's and Fisher’s extraordinary photographic skills, creates an intimate portrayal of ceremonies long held secret that might have never been recorded. It is an exhibit that both preserves and presents the power, complexity and celebration found within the rituals of African tribal life.
The exhibition consists of 92 photographs and 6 short video films ( which can be shown on monitors, or on a single screen). We invite each museum to present art objects from their collection to enhance the experience of Africa as a living tradition. We encourage additional programming that will inspire the audience to view the exhibition both as a source of learning and as a vital creative inspiration for young people today. The exhibition was curated by the Brooklyn Museum and is available for travel through 2022. INQUIRE
Beckwith and Fisher’s award-winning publications include the definitive 2-volume reference African Ceremonies, and Passages, the soft-cover accompaniment to this exhibition. Critically acclaimed by the New York Times (“a visual feast”), Time Magazine (“a magnificent documenting of the continent’s rapidly vanishing kaleidoscope of tribal rights”) and The Wall Street Journal (“…these two women have gone further and deeper into tribal Africa than any photographers have gone before”).
Previous exhibition venues:
The Museum of Natural Science Turin, Italy Nov 2009 - Jan 2010
The Bowers Museum Santa Ana, CA Nov 2008 - Aug 2009
National Geographic Museum, Washington, DC Oct 2004 - Jan 2005
Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, PA May 2003 - August 2003
Naples Museum of Art, Naples, FL February 2003 - May 2003
Borges Centro Cultural, Buenos Aires, Argentina December 2002 - March 2003
Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, MS July 2002 - October 2002
Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York, NY July 2000 - September 2000