White cloth completely covers one of the principal objects on display in the Hood Museum of Art's current exhibition, "A Point of View: Africa on Display." The work is not concealed because it is undergoing maintenance, though, or for any of the reasons that one might immediately imagine: rather, the mask is being covered up because religious taboos forbid it to be seen in the African country where it was made.
Barbara Thompson, the curator of the exhibition, said that she chose to exhibit the work in this manner because of increasing concern within the museum world that "the approach we take to displaying objects from other cultures is very different from the approach we take to displaying objects from our own."
For instance, while museums frequently display African sacred art without regard to the original traditions and taboos governing how the public should view these objects, Thompson had difficulty imagining that Western museums would treat "say, relics of Christ that were not meant to be seen or touched" in the same way.
Thompson added that she found it especially interesting that some African museums treat African sacred art with an equal lack of respect -- Mali's National Museum has publicly displayed sacred art that tradition dictates should not be viewed, for example.
Such issues of how Westerners perceive African art -- and what these perceptions tell us about how we view art from our own culture -- are at the heart of what Thompson hopes to accomplish through "A Point of View: Africa on Display."
The placement of a Nkisi doll from the Congo, which has literally dozens of nails stuck in its wooden arms and legs, before a mirror also nicely symbolizes the exhibition's focus on perspective.
The doll is "probably the most misunderstood item in our collection," Thompson said, as people immediately tend to assume that it's some sort of voodoo doll.
"In reality, Nkisi's a good guy," Thompson said, explaining that he is usually used in healing rituals, "but our own pre-conceived ideas based on Hollywood means that people are quick to make assumptions about an object like this."
Thompson chose to include a two-headed Igbo figure, which reminds many viewers of the Roman god Janus, again because it allows viewers to reflect on how their understanding of a Roman myth shapes their reactions to an African work.
The Western tendency to value purely "native" works of art led Thompson to select a Baga mask painted bright shades of purple and teal, instead of in a traditional black and white pattern.
"Both museums and collectors have a history of rejecting or minimalizing works that have used Western materials," Thompson said.
More recently, though, museums have become increasingly interested in asking how and why African artists have used Western materials or motifs, rather than criticizing these works for being unfaithful to tradition, Thompson said.
The works of art in the exhibition come from various cultures across the continent and were produced at different times. Thompson said she wanted to avoid giving viewers the sense that they completely understand a small part of African culture, a sense that exhibitions highlighting particular cultures sometimes give viewers.
The exhibition's unconventional labels highlight Thompson's aim.. Instead of posting cards on the wall that give straightforward descriptions of each work of art, a flip book of index cards posing general questions accompanies each work.
The organization of the exhibition was "non-linear," according to Thompson, so viewers can walk from object to object in any order they choose.
