exhibitions > current: AFRICAN DOLLS: TO AMUSE, ASSIST, AND PROTECT
	June 2 - July 14, 2001 Opening June 2, 2001, Hurst Gallery presents AFRICAN DOLLS: TO AMUSE, ASSIST, AND PROTECT, an exhibition of over fifty dolls originating from West, Central, and Southern Africa. The use of dolls as playthings is ubiquitous around the world. However, dolls in many parts of Africa are not only used to entertain children. Properly endowed with certain attributes, they also embody spirits in ritual contexts and during divination processes. Dolls are frequently infused with symbolic powers to help women conceive children and to protect their pregnancies and infants. Dolls serve varied purposes, meeting needs in both secular and spiritual aspects of life from birth to adulthood. The exhibition includes dolls in a variety of media including wood, pottery, leather, gourd, shells, cloth, and beads. The figures range from naturalistic to highly abstract and demonstrate the originality and resourcefulness of their creators. Notable among the dolls exhibited, are several carved gourd figures made by Kirdi artists of Northern Cameroon, West Africa. These unusual forms are cut from a rounded gourd, and stitched with applique beads and coins to create sophisticated linear and geometric patterns in bright colors. Pendant arms and legs are fabricated from beaded strands and attached to the gourd body. Other dolls include carved wooden figures with geometric incising from the Mossi people of Burkina Faso and wooden dolls embellished with brightly colored beads from the Zaramo and neighboring peoples of Tanzania. Please contact the gallery for a full exhibition list and additional information: web images of the entire collection of dolls is forthcoming.
	return to top home | art & artifacts | appraisals/consultations | special collections exhibitions | publications | suggested links | contact us All material copyright © Hurst Gallery 1999, 2000.