Striking Iron: The Art of African Blacksmiths

FAIN: GI-256094-17

UCLA; Regents of the University of California, Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA 90024-4201)
Marla C. Berns (Project Director: January 2017 to November 2021)

Implementation of a 5,700-square-foot traveling exhibition, a website, and public programs on the history, culture, and art of blacksmithing across the African continent.

Striking Iron: The Art of African Blacksmiths is a major internationally traveling exhibition organized by the Fowler Museum at UCLA. It will present over 200 diverse artworks from across the African continent, focusing on the region south of the Sahara and covering a time period spanning early archaeological evidence of iron-working to the present day. Scheduled to open in April 2018, the project also comprises a multi-author scholarly publication, a diverse roster of public programs including lectures, a family festival, and community collaborations, along with web and K-12 curricular resources that will extend Striking Iron's reach to American audiences and enhance the visitor experience. Based on decades of research by its curatorial team, Striking Iron synthesizes established and new scholarship with artworks of great aesthetic strengths and beauty to create what will be the most comprehensive treatment of the blacksmith's art in Africa to date.

Associated Products

Prizes

Award for Excellence
Date: 1/1/2019
Organization: Art Museum Curators