The Indiana University will present "Visions from the Forests: The Art of Liberia and Sierra Leone," the nation's first exhibition dedicated to the cultural heritage of West African neighbors Liberia and Sierra Leone. Featuring approximately 75 pieces drawn primarily from the collection fo William Siegmann (1943 - 2011), IU Alumnus, and former curator of African Art at the Brooklyn Museum.

Siegmann lived and worked in Liberia between 1965 and 1987 where he directed both the National Musuem of Liberia in Monrovia and the Africana Museum at Cuttington University College (now Cuttington University). The exhibition surveys the region's traditional and diverse art forms including masks, wooden and stone statuary, metalwork, ritual objects used in men's and women's initiation rites, and woven and dyed textiles. Organized by the Minneapolis Institute of Art, Visions from the Forests has already visited it's host institution and the Smithsonian Museum of African Art in Washington D.C. before coming to Bloomington. It will continue on to the High Museum in Atlanta, GA after leaving the IU Art Museum. 

OPENING PROGRAM:

Saturday, March 7, 5:30 - 6:30 p.m.

Hope School of Fine Arts Auditorium (room 015).

Join us for opening festivities for "Visions from the Forests" with a performance by the Kotchegna Dance Company. Based in New York, this exciting dance troupe consists of seven dancers and drummers who perform dances and songs from Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) under the direction of master dancer and choreographer Vado Diomande. This performance is supported in part by the IU African Studies Program. 

OPENING RECEPTION:

Saturday, March 7, 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.

IU Art Museum, Thomas T. Solley Atrium, First Floor.

Visions from the Forests: 

The Art of Liberia and Sierra Leone

Indiana University Art Museum

 On View: March 8 - May 10

Opening Reception: March 7