Exhibition-ism: Museums and African Art

Since the Museum of African Art's founding ten years ago, the ability of museums to neutrally present any art-and especially art as contested as Africa's-has been increasingly challenged. Art objects are its central raison d'etre, but the Museum of African Art has become known for its inquiries into the acts of presenting and looking at African Art. The meanings of the artworks in Africa were multiple and open to debate; however, as were the methods of contextualizing them in museums. Both these arenas still demand research and investigation today. Exhibition-ism is one such investigation, an exhibition that mirrors the process of conceiving and constructing an exhibition.