Cross-Cultural Patterns: "Cloth is like a DNA swatch"

CROSS-CULTURAL PATTERNS "Cloth is like a DNA swatch"1 Lydie Diakhate D ur ing 1 :111 2008, in New York, two parallel exhibitions celebrate African tex tiles. The Essential Art of Africal/ Textiles: Design Without EI/d, on view at The Metropolitan Muse11111 of Art (Septem ber 30, 2008-March 22, 2009) and The Poetics of Cloth: Africal/ Textiles/Recent Art, on view at th e Grey Art Gallery- New York University (Septem be r 16- December 6, 2008) . The goal of the two exhibitions is to put in co nversation an ama zing array of anc ient textil es, most of them fro m West Africa, and the works of fiftee n co ntemporary leading artists-from Africa and its diaspora who use textiles withi n different photography , pa inting, sculpture, video, and installation. The Metropolitan Museum showcases forty-eight pieces that date fro m th e early nineteenth century mE::!! Journal of Contemporary African Art Abdoul aye Konate, Gris-gris blanc (White Gris-Gris) (detail), 2006, Grey Art Gallery, NY. Cott on, 90 Y2 x 196 3,4 in. Court esy the artist. to the present wit h a majority of historic works drawn primarily from th e collections of the Metropolitan and the British Museum, as well as several private collections in the United States and Europe. The Grey Art Gallery reverses the dialogu e by displaying the works of th irteen contemporary artists opposite a few traditional pieces. Of course, th e divergen ce between th e two sites-one of th e wo rld's largest national museums and a university fine arts museum- gives dissimi lar contexts to the exhibitions and th e d isplays . Alysa LaGarnrna- stressed the fact that textiles have "a profound awareness of precedent," an d, "At their core, is th e idea of design as an endlessly expensive co nti nuum of formal possibilit ies, an approach th at co ntinues to resonate with ere- ative practice."3 In this way, the exhibition and its narrative really reveal the complexity and diversity of the traditional techniques of the weaving, emphasizing an ethnographic consideration; and follows a classical and didactic chart in its representation . On her side, Lynn G u m p e r t 4 attempted to explore "how a number of contemporary artists—from different nations and diverse cultural milieus—share an engagement with, and passion for, African textiles."3 In the display, the discourse on contemporary African art swings between popular and elitist categorization. Therefore, in both exhibitions, the everlasting desire to contain African art with Africa stay suspended . This perception calls to attention the fact that the correlation of Africa to the contemporary art world is still fragile and consequently, as a new challenge, museums should have to reconsider their curatorial policy. However, the two exhibitions have the advantage of helping us to address the questions of representation and identity and the evolution of Malick Sidibe, Untitled, 2005, Grey Art Gallery, NY. Gelatin silver print, 15 3/ 4x11 7/8 in. Courtesy CAAC—t he Pigozzi Collection, Geneva. © Malick Sibide. N k a « 1 5 9 Nontsikelelo "Lolo" Veleko, Sibu VIII, from Beauty Is in the Eye of the Beholder, 2003-6, Grey Art Gallery, NY. Pigment ink on cotton rag paper, I B 3 /> x 10 !6 in. Courtesy the artist and Goodman Gallery Cape, Cape Town. 160* N k a Journal of Contemporary African Art African art history and its narrative as it moved from the collective object to the independent piece of art; from local to global inspirations or from abstract to conceptual aesthetic. In fact, they offer an encouraging outlook space to respond to the worry already set up in 2001 by Salah Hassan and Olu Oguibe, when they were curating an exhibition on contemporary African art for the 49th Venice Biennale.6 In their article "'Authentic/ Ex-Centric' at the Venice Biennale: African Conceptualism in Global Contexts," they denounced the position of curators and art critics such as Germano Celant and Brian Sewell, who were convinced that "African artists have no place in any narratives of contemporary art in the late twentieth century, despite their contributions to contemporary culture."7...