African Art Reframed

“At just under 400 pages, this splendid and impressively researched book has eight chapters that divide thematically into three parts… . The main themes centre around artworks, artists, museum exhibits and others, while interviews with artists and curators close each chapter.” –Theory, Culture, and Society “The authors’ enthusiasm for their analytical approach is admirable … very timely and insightful work.” –Ethnic and Racial Studies ​“Jules-Rosette and Osborne succeed in their intention to illustrate a historical reconstituting of public perception of the African object–from ethnographic curiosity, to influence on other artistic movements, to embrace of the gamut of creative expression.” –Choice “African Art Reframed is a qualitative study of the circulation and exhibition of African art in ethnographic and art museums and galleries in Europe, Africa, and the United States. Drawing on years of ethnographic observations, interviews with museum professionals and artists, and extensive archival and visual materials such as museum catalogs, Jules-Rosette and Osborn examine how African art is created, framed, and reframed in museums across three continents.” –Symbolic Interaction ​”An important intervention featuring new approaches to ‘unmixing’ in the exhibitionary complex of African and African American Art. It features interviews with French and US-based curators and museum directors engaged in emerging contexts and legacies of ethnographic display.”-Peter J. Bloom, author of French Colonial Documentary: Mythologies of Humanitarianism “African Art Reframed is a masterwork that interweaves theoretical innovations and critical analyses of the power dynamics in museum displays of African art.” –Journal of African American History ”This book is nothing less than a major breakthrough in museum studies. It is the first to systematically connect museum display practice to the recalibration of ‘ethnic identity’ that happens after colonialism. Its focus is on the global display of art and crafts from Africa and the African diaspora. But it is essential reading for anyone who wonders about what we want to hear from our forebears as we compel them to speak from behind glass, standing on plinths, and hanging on walls.”-Dean MacCannell, author of The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class

Bennetta Jules-Rosette is Distinguished Professor of Sociology and director of the African and African-American Studies Research Center at the University of California, San Diego. Her books include Josephine Baker in Art and Life: The Icon and Image, Black Paris: The African Writers’ Landscape, and The Messages of Tourist Art.

J.R. Osborn is an associate professor of communication, culture, and technology at Georgetown University. He is the author of Letters of Light: Arabic Script in Calligraphy, Print, and Digital Design.

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