A Fateful Journey: Africa in the Works of El Anatsui (review)

The exhibition A Fateful Journey: Africa in the Works of El Anatsui began at the National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, in September 2010. My two main goals as curator were to dedicate a large-scale show to one living black African artist and to represent Anatsui's artworks through narratives of both art history and cultural anthropology. The second goal would not likely be accepted by artworld professionals in Africa, for contemporary African art and artists have unfortunately been suspended between the ethnological museum and the art gallery and between cultural anthropology and art history. But there might be a positive way to examine this situation and meaningfully represent art from a variety of viewpoints, including cultural anthropology and related fields. This exhibition is designed to develop a new site shared by multiple narratives and to encourage curators and art galleries in Japan to turn their eyes to art worlds outside Euro-America.