ACASA

Beyond the “Mask:” Towards a New Paradigm of Collecting and Displaying African Art in U.S. Museums

Wednesday, May 14th, from 12:00 PM -1:30 PM CST | 10AM PST | 1 PM EST | 6 PM WAT/BST | 7 PM SAST/CEST | 8 PM EAT/EEST

A pair of Kimi masks (headpiece carved by David Sanou in the studio of André Sanou) performing greetings with the lead griot Tchiedo playing his drum behind them, Bindougosso district, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkino Faso. Photo by Lisa Homann on May 3, 2022.

Join us on Wednesday, May 14, for a thought-provoking webinar discussion that examines how museums can reshape their approaches to collecting and displaying African art through ethical transparency, inclusive narratives, and critical practices. Inspired by the New African Masquerades: Artistic Innovations and Collaborations exhibition (April 4–August 10, 2025) at the New Orleans Museum of Art, this panel explores case studies that honor artist agency, cultural authenticity, and global accountability by centering the voices of African artists and their communities. Beyond celebration, this dialogue challenges us to rethink, reimagine, and drive actionable change toward a more just and accountable future for African art curation.

This virtual event, presented in partnership between the Arts Council of the African Studies Association and the New Orleans Museum of Art, is free with registration. Registration via the link below is required to receive webinar credentials before the event. Registration closes one hour before the event.

Register Here

Panelists:

Aindrea Emelife is a Nigerian-British curator and art historian specializing in modern and contemporary art, with a focus on questions around colonial and decolonial histories in Africa, transnationalism and the politics of representation. Emelife has been the inaugural Curator of MOWAA (Museum of West African Art) in Benin City, Nigeria since 2023. Emelife is on the Board of Trustees for New Curators.

Genevieve Hill-Thomas is an art history professor at Ringling College of Art and Design where she combines her love of African art history with her background as a textile artist. Occasionally she works with local museums that hold collections of African art. She volunteers with the nonprofit Florida Craft Art in St. Petersburg, Florida to teach crochet to local middle school students during the school year, and with DIMA, a non-profit art school, in Niamey, Niger to help faculty and students in the weaving department.

Jean Borgatti is Consulting Curator – Global Africa, First Peoples – N. America & Oceania at Fitchburg Art Museum and long term affiliate of Clark University and Boston University. She is one of the pioneering theorists and scholars committed to recognizing, documenting, and advocating for the individuality of masquerade artists. Dr. Borgatti’s research and advisory role will connect some of the earliest scholarship in individual masquerade artists to that of this project, which puts a contemporary spin on her foundational work.

Jordan A. Fenton is associate professor of art history at Miami University, with an emphasis on the visual and performed expression of Nigerian masquerade arts, secret societies, esoteric knowledge systems, funerary rituals and installations, dress, economics and ways in which so-called “traditional” arts and artists operate in metropolitan cities. At Miami, Fenton teaches introductions on non-Western art and courses and seminars exploring Africa and its Diaspora. He is the co-curator of the New African Masquerades: Artistic Innovations and Collaborations author of Masquerade and Money in Urban Nigeria: The Case of Calabar (University of Rochester Press, 2022).  

Paul R. Davis is Curator of Collections at the Menil Collection in Houston, TX. His academic research and publications focus on the visual arts and sociopolitical histories from the colonial and post-independence eras (18th–20th century) in West Africa. He was an Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in the Centre for the Creative Arts of Africa at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa and a Fulbright-Hays DDRA Fellow based in Mali (West Africa). Davis was a co-director of the Collections Analysis Collaborative (CAC), an educational and object-based research initiative on the Menil’s ancient Mediterranean holdings with Rice University and University of Houston Clear Lake. His exhibition projects at the Menil have included ReCollecting Dogon (2017), Mapa Wiya (Your Map’s Not Needed): Australian Aboriginal Art from the Fondation Opale (2019), Enchanted: Visual Histories of the Central Andes (2021), Samuel Fosso: African Spirits (2022), Art of the Cameroon Grassfields, A Living Heritage in Houston (2023), and A Surrealist Wunderkammer (2024).

Please reach out to Caroline Bastian, ACASA Admin, with any questions at bastian@acasaonline.org.

Applications are open for African Critical Inquiry Programme’s 2025 Ivan Karp
Doctoral Research Awards to support African doctoral students in humanities and
humanistic social sciences at South African universities conducting relevant dissertation
research. ACIP seeks to advance inquiry and debate about the roles and practice of
public culture, public cultural institutions, and public scholarship in shaping identities and
society in Africa. Ivan Karp Awards are open to African postgraduate students
registered in South African PhD programmes working on topics related to ACIP=s focus.
Maximum award ZAR 50,000.
For full information see ACIP Opportunities at
http://www.graduateschool.emory.edu/about/special/acip.html.
ACIP is a partnership between Centre for Humanities Research at University of Western
Cape and Laney Graduate School of Emory University

The African Critical Inquiry Programme (ACIP) invites proposals from scholars
and/or practitioners in public cultural institutions in South Africa to organise a workshop
in 2026. ACIP seeks to advance inquiry and debate about the roles and practice of
public culture, public cultural institutions, and public scholarship in shaping identities
and society in Africa. Applications may be submitted by experienced scholars and
cultural practitioners at universities, museums, and other cultural organizations in South
Africa who want to create or reinvigorate interdisciplinary, cross-institutional
engagement and understanding and are committed to training future scholarpractitioners.
Maximum award ZAR 75,000.
For full information, see ACIP Opportunities at
http://www.graduateschool.emory.edu/about/special/acip.html.
ACIP is a partnership of Centre for Humanities Research at University of Western Cape
and Laney Graduate School of Emory University

Deadline Thursday 1 May 2025

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Arts Council of the African Studies Association (ACASA) Releases Best Practice Guidelines for Provenance Research and Restitution

New Resource Emphasizes Collaboration with African Institutions and Communities

Responding to an urgent and growing need for guidance on ethical stewardship of African collections in museums, the Arts Council of the African Studies Association (ACASA) has produced best practice guidelines for provenance research and restitution. The new resource, the first-ever for museums in the United States, emphasizes collaboration and communication with Africa-based peers, descendant communities, and other knowledge-holding constituents in assessing and determining the futures of collections. Developed with support from the Mellon Foundation, this foundational document is publicly accessible and recommended for sharing with all U.S. collecting institutions.

The guidelines were developed over a three-year period by a working group of over seventy specialists from the United States, Africa, and Europe. The initiative began in 2021 and was informed by ongoing dialogue with Africa-based institutions, professionals, and community members. The final document, ratified by ACASA in August 2024, encourages museums to uphold their ethical responsibilities in their stewardship of African objects, in addition to any legal requirements. This includes promptly responding to return concerns and claims. It also recommends that U.S. museums demonstrate an institutional commitment to:

• transparency regarding collection holdings and information about object histories
• working with interested parties on the African continent on collaborations, including returns, within this field-wide framework of accepted practice
• prioritizing research on collection holdings
• disseminating information about African arts collections in accordance with ethical computing standards

The resource includes guidance on provenance research, criteria and parameters for determining research priorities, case studies with recommendations, and resource material on relevant law and policy precedents.

Chika Okeke-Agulu (Princeton University), a leading international voice on African restitution, hailed the guidelines as “the most ambitious initiative ever by ACASA.” He added, “In its depth and scope, I can say that no one in the U.S. has gone this far to provide a compelling road map, a useful pathway to the complex matter of restitution and repatriation of looted African cultural heritage.”

Erica P. Jones (Fowler Museum at UCLA) and Amanda Gilvin (Davis Museum at Wellesley College), who co-led the working group that produced the document, expressed gratitude to the “many ACASA members who sought ways to honor past makers, descendent communities, and diaspora communities by embracing the push toward ethical returns. After over a century of requests, negotiations, and debates, we hope that this guidance will be an important step towards reshaping museological practice.”

ACASA’s current President, Paul Basu (University of Oxford), emphasized that the publication is only part of ACASA’s ongoing work to expand dialogues and networks with African institutions and communities. “The need to put ethics at the center of scholarship and collections stewardship is clear, and ACASA is well placed to play a central role in advocating for, sharing information and advice, and even coordinating training in all matters relating to provenance research and restitution. This important work is a key part of ACASA’s future vision.” As an immediate next step, ACASA will work toward the creation of a digital resource that will help Africa-based institutions and communities connect with African objects in U.S. museum collections.

ACASA is a U.S.-based professional organization, with over 1,800 members worldwide. For more than four decades, ACASA has championed African arts scholarship, connecting artists, researchers, curators and collections on the African continent, in North America, Europe and beyond. For more information about ACASA and how to join, visit acasaonline.org or contact ACASA administrator, Caroline Bastian Retcher at bastian@acasaonline.org.

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS IVAN KARP DOCTORAL RESEARCH AWARDS FOR AFRICAN STUDENTS ENROLLED IN SOUTH AFRICAN Ph.D. PROGRAMMES Closing Date: Thursday 1 May 2025

The African Critical Inquiry Programme is pleased to announce the 2025 Ivan
Karp Doctoral Research Awards to support African doctoral students in the
humanities and humanistic social sciences who are enrolled at South African
universities and conducting dissertation research on relevant topics. Grant amounts
vary depending on research plans, with a maximum award of ZAR 50,000.
The African Critical Inquiry Programme (ACIP) seeks to advance inquiry and
debate about the roles and practice of public culture, public cultural institutions, and
public scholarship in shaping identities and society in Africa. The ACIP is committed
to collaboration between scholars and the makers of culture/history, and to fostering
inquiry into the politics of knowledge production, the relationships between the
colonial/apartheid and the postcolonial/postapartheid, and the importance of critical
pluralism as against nationalist discourse. ACIP is a partnership between the Centre
for Humanities Research at the University of the Western Cape and the Laney
Graduate School of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia (USA).
ELIGIBILITY: The Ivan Karp Doctoral Research Awards are open to African
postgraduate students (regardless of citizenship) in the humanities and humanistic social sciences. Applicants must be currently registered in a Ph.D. programme in a
South African university and be working on topics related to ACIP’s focus. Awards
will support doctoral research projects focused on topics such as institutions of public
culture, particular aspects of museums and exhibitions, forms and practices of public
scholarship, culture and communication, and the theories, histories, and systems of
thought that shape and illuminate public culture and public scholarship. Applicants
must submit a dissertation proposal that has been approved by their institution to
confirm the award; this must be completed before they begin ACIP-supported on-site
research or by December 2025, whichever comes first.
APPLICATION PROCESS: Awards are open to proposals working with a
range of methodologies in the humanities and humanistic social sciences, including
research in archives and collections, fieldwork, interviews, surveys, and quantitative
data collection. Applicants are expected to write in clear, intelligible prose for a
selection committee that is multi-disciplinary and cross-regional. Proposals should
show thorough knowledge of the major concepts, theories, and methods in the
applicant’s discipline and in other related fields and include a bibliography relevant to
the research. Applicants should specify why an extended period of on-site research
is essential to successfully complete the proposed doctoral dissertation. Applicants
are urged to consult the guidance and advice on how to write a good proposal and
prepare a well-crafted budget found in the Resources section of the ACIP website
(http://www.graduateschool.emory.edu/about/special/acip.html) or here:
http://www.ssrc.org/publications/view/the-art-of-writing-proposals/.
To apply, eligible applicants should submit the following as a single file
attachment with documents in the order listed:
‚ completed cover sheet (form below and online at the end of application
information at http://www.graduateschool.emory.edu/about/special/acip.html,
under ACIP Opportunities)
‚ abstract of the proposed research project (250 words maximum)
‚ research proposal outlining the project’s goals, central questions, significance,
and relevance for ACIP’s central concerns. Proposals should include a clearly
formulated, realistic research design and plan of work responsive to the
project’s theoretical and methodological concerns. Applicants should provide
evidence of appropriate training to undertake the proposed research,
including the language fluency necessary for the project. Proposals should be
no longer than 1800 words; they should be double spaced, with 2.5 cm
margins and a font no smaller than 11 point. Applications that do not follow
these format guidelines will not be considered.
A bibliography of up to two additional pages, project budget listing project expenses to be supported by the award. Your
budget should justify both items listed and amounts requested (i.e. indicate
what the amounts are based on)
‚ your curriculum vitae
‚ current academic transcript and proof of registration at your current institution
‚ two referee letters; one of these must be from your supervisor. Your referees
should comment specifically on your proposed project, its quality and
significance, and your qualifications for undertaking it. They should also
evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your project and how you and your
work would benefit from receiving the research award. Referee letters should
be submitted directly to the Selection Committee.
Funding is to be used for on-site dissertation research; research cannot be at the applicant’s home institution unless that institution has necessary site-specific
research holdings not otherwise available to the applicant. If your budget includes
equipment purchase(s) (e.g., laptop; photo, video, or audio equipment), you must
clearly and specifically motivate the request in relation to planned work and
successful project completion, show that the request is for cost-effective equipment
appropriate to your research that you do not otherwise have access to, and explain
what you plan to do with the equipment at the end of your project (e.g. donate to an
educational organization related to your research). ACIP will not support equipment
requests totaling more than 20% of the budget.
Applicants who have completed significant funded dissertation research by
the start of their proposed ACIP research may be ineligible to apply to extend
research time. Eligibility will be at the discretion of the ACIP Selection Committee,
depending on completed research time and funding. Please note that Ivan Karp
Doctoral Research Awards support dissertation research only and may not be used
for dissertation write-up, editing or printing; tuition; study at other universities;
conference participation; or to reimburse debts or expenses for research already
completed. The programme does not accept applications from Ph.D. programmes in
Law, Business, Medicine, Nursing, or Journalism, nor does it accept applications
from doctoral programmes that do not lead to a Ph.D.
SELECTION PROCESS: Applications will be reviewed by the ACIP
Selection Committee, an interdisciplinary group of scholars and practitioners drawn
from a range of universities and cultural institutions. Selection will be based on the
merit and strength of the application. Award amounts will vary according to project
needs; the maximum award is ZAR 50,000. Awards will be made only if applications
of high quality are received. Notification of awards will be made by late July.
Successful applicants will be required to attend the African Critical Inquiry
Workshop in the following year and will have opportunities to consult with scholars
associated with the Workshop. They will be expected to attend subsequent ACIP
Workshops while completing their dissertations, if possible. After completing their
research, applicants must submit a final research report and a financial report.
Students who receive an Ivan Karp Doctoral Research Award from ACIP must
acknowledge the support in their dissertation and in any publications resulting from
the research. When the dissertation is completed, they must deposit a copy with the
African Critical Inquiry Programme at the Centre for Humanities Research.
Closing date: Applications and referees’ letters must be
received on or before Thursday 1 May 2025. Incomplete
applications and applications that do not conform to format
guidelines will not be considered.
Please submit materials as a single file attachment with
documents in the order listed above. Applications should be sent
by email with the heading “ACIP 2025 Research Award Application”
to acip.uwc@gmail.com.

Supported by funding from the Ivan Karp and Corinne Kratz Fund
http://www.graduateschool.emory.edu/about/special/acip.html
https://www.facebook.com/ivan.karp.corinne.kratz.fund