ACASA Leadership Award

The Arts Council of the African Studies Association (ACASA) confers a Leadership Award upon an individual whose accomplishments best exemplify excellence in the study of African and/or African Diasporic arts and/or whose innovative contributions and vision have advanced the field. The Award is presented every three years at the Triennial Symposium of African Art Awards Ceremony, and consists of an appropriate memento, a citation, and a lifetime membership in ACASA.

Criteria for the Award are the distinction of contribution to the field of African and African Diasporic art, as measured by a lifetime of accomplishments in areas such as teaching, mentoring, research, curating, publishing, artistic expression, administration, and service to the field. In addition, the individual should have demonstrated generosity of spirit and collegiality. Candidates within and outside of the academic and museum communities are considered.

The Leadership Award Committee is composed of the Past President of ACASA, the recipient/s of the previous Leadership Award and four ACASA members (ranging from senior to mid-level and junior) designated by the ACASA Board of Directors. The Committee solicits recommendations through mail or electronic ballot from the ACASA membership and input from prominent scholars in the field. It composes a list of potential recipients and selects one or two leaders. The recommendation of the Committee is presented for final approval to the President of ACASA and the ACASA Board of Directors.

The names of candidates not selected for the award are kept by the past Chair of the Leadership Awards Committee and circulated to the Chair of the next ACASA Leadership Awards.

2011 ACASA Leadership Award Recipients: Rowland Abiodun and Doran Ross

››› View Past ACASA Leadership Award Winners ‹‹‹

Nominations for the Sieber Dissertation Award are requested from primary Ph.D. advisors for outstanding dissertations on some aspect of African and/or African diaspora art, in any discipline.

The Sieber award was established to honor the memory of Professor Roy Sieber who, through his research, writing, and mentoring of many Ph.D. students, made a lasting contribution to the study of African art.

Dissertations completed in the period from September 1, 2010 – September 1, 2013 are eligible for consideration by the award committee. Advisors may nominate one dissertation only. Dissertations should be submitted in English. The award will be given at the 16th ACASA Triennial, to be held in Spring 2014.

Dissertations (a CD-ROM copy, with text in Microsoft WORD) should be sent by the author to the chair of the Sieber Dissertation Award Committee at the address below, along with a letter indicating author’s name, university affiliation, current address, e-mail address, telephone, fax and the name of the nominating PhD advisor. In special cases when CD-ROM copies are not possible, dissertation chapters may be sent by email. Advisors should ask their students to send their completed dissertations as soon as possible, but no later than September 15, 2013; See the next ACASA newsletter or H-AfrArts website (posted announcements) for any update on submission details and a list of committee members.

Committee Chair:
Chika Okeke-Agulu
Department of Art & Archaeology
305 McCormick Hall
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ 08544
Tel: 609: 258-7456

2011 - Sieber Outstanding Dissertation Award

Alex Bortolot. A Language for Change: Creativity and Power in Mozambican Makonde Masked Performance, circa 1900-2004. Columbia University, Department of Art and Archaeology, 2007.

2011 - Sieber Outstanding Dissertation - Honorable Mention

Nichole Bridges. Contact, Commentary, and Kongo Memory: Perspectives on Loango Coast Souvenir Ivories, ca. 1840-1910. University of Madison-Wisconsin, Department of Art History, 2009.

››› View Past Roy Sieber Dissertation Award Winners ‹‹‹

Arnold Rubin Outstanding Publication Award

The Arnold Rubin Outstanding Publication Award honors publications for excellence in scholarship on the arts of Africa and the African Diaspora. The award, offered every three years, is given to works of original scholarship and excellence in visual presentation that make significant contributions to our understanding of African and African Diasporic arts and material culture. This award was first bestowed in 1989 in honor of the late Dr. Arnold Rubin, professor of Art History at UCLA from 1967-1988.

Topics may include visual arts and material culture (including sculpture, graphic arts, architecture, photography, textile arts, etc.), and performing arts (including masquerade, music, dance, etc.) of Africa and the African Diaspora. Symposium proceedings, new editions of previously published works, bibliographies, articles, dissertations, and books of photographs without scholarly texts fall out of the scope of this award.

Awards are given in two categories: (1) Original scholarly works by one or two authors published in English, including books published in conjunction with exhibitions; (2) Original scholarly works by three or more authors published in English, including books published in conjunction with exhibitions.

Publishers who wish to nominate a title or titles should send one copy to each of the committee members. It must be received by September 15 of the year prior to the Triennial.

2011 - Arnold Rubin Book Award - Single Author

Jessica Winegar. Creative Reckonings: The Politics of Art and Culture In Contemporary Egypt. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2006.

2011 - Arnold Rubin Book Award - Honorable Mention

Steven Nelson. From Cameroon to Paris: Mousgoum Architecture in and out of Africa. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007.

2011 - Arnold Rubin Book Award - Multiple Authors

Henry John Drewal (ed.). Sacred Waters: Arts for Mami Wata and other Divinities in Africa and the Diaspora. Bloomington & Indianapolis, Indiana University Press, 2008.

2011 - Arnold Rubin Book Award - Honorable Mention

Christine Mullen Kreamer, Polly Nooter Roberts, Elizabeth Harney and Allyson Purpura. Inscribing Meaning. Milan: 5 Continents Press, 2007.

››› View Past Arnold Rubin Book Award Winners ‹‹‹