BROOKLYN– CELEBRATE AFRICA MONTH 2014: “SYMBOLS OF SPIRITS”

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Eric Edwards and part of his impressive collection

 

Exhibition and Gala Celebration. Forty Four Years Of African Artifacts Collecting

Dates: September 26 through October 7, 2014

Reception: Tuesday, September 30, 2014. 4:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Brooklyn Borough Hall, 209 Joralemon Street & Court Street – 11201

In Collaboration with Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams –

    •    Meet African dignitaries from various countries; sample and enjoy food from Brooklyn’s best and most noted African chefs

    •    Spectacular art creations based upon African inspiration, and actual African artifacts as old as 4000 years.

    •    Come listen to and watch traditional African music and dance.

    •    Video displays of actual African ceremonies.

    •    Keynote Speaker : H.E. Ambassador Tete Antonio, Permanent Observer, Mission of the African Union to the United Nations

    •    Keynote Speaker : Dr. Idris Olagoke Badmus – President & Founder African Center Foundation – “Africa’s Dream” – 44 offices worldwide

    •    Dr. Randy Weston, the renowned jazz great and Historian of African American Classical Musi

    •    Dr. Adelaide Sanford, New York State Regent Emeritus and former Vice Chancellor, “Our Mother Africa”

    •    South African painter Vumelani Sibeko, the great, great grandson of King Shaka Zulu

    •    Danny Simmons, artist, poet, African art collector, Hip-Hop visionary on Broadway

    •    Dr. Roy Hastick, Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce  & Industry (CACCI)

    •    NYC Councilmembers  Robert Cornegy, Jumaane Williams, Laurie Cumbo, Federal, State, and local officials.

    •    Speak to the Chairman Mohammed Nurhussein, and President Sidique Wai of the United African Congress.

The message will be of unity and in strengthening the bonds between Africa and the United States in all ways.

In conjunction with the office of the Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, this is the 2nd Annual Exhibition celebrating the connections between the peoples of Africa and the Brooklyn public. The massive collection of Eric Edwards, one of the largest in the United States, is the center-piece of this historical undertaking.

Carefully assembled over the last forty Four years this Brooklynite has one of the finest and foremost collections of African art and artifacts in the country. Mr. Edwards, a graduate of Brooklyn Tech and CCNY, will along with other experts discuss the cultural relevance of the art of Africa to people of all backgrounds and ethnicities.

The making of the art and its utilitarian, religious and spiritual uses will be discussed along with its role in the development of contemporary modern art.
Museums in NYC began formally collecting African art in the early 20th century, in Europe considerably earlier. Artists such as Basquiat, Picasso, Braque, Klee, Matisse and many of the modernists appropriated African art images and incorporated it into many of what today are considered the greatest modern masterpieces.

Artists today such as Otto Neals and Danny Simmons recognize the aesthetic qualities of the sacred wooden sculptures and masks of African artisans. You will see the power manifested from this in the contemporary creations of the artists presented in this exhibition.

It is with that same inspiration that eleven wonderful contemporary artists will present their new works which have been inspired by the Eric Edwards collection. They make  the leap from the past to the present, and we will realize mankinds’ inspiration and what makes us human doesn’t change with time.  The artists and videographers are:

    •    Otto Neals

    •    Vumelani Sibeko

    •    James Hoston

    •    Jamillah Jennings

    •    Roger Beckles

    •    Milton Edwards

    •    Gerald Jones

    •    Janet Goldner

    •    Howard Cash

    •    Dr. Izell Glover

    •    Sol Sax

Also to be announced the forthcoming “Cultural Museum of African Art” **CMAAEEC** 

This exhibition is curated by Eric Edwards, Executive Director of CMAEE.

Come celebrate Africa and its gift – “its art’s meaning to the world”.

Contacts: 718- 399-9053, 917-520-8977

WWW.CMAAEEC.COM

*American Institute For Performing And Fine Arts Management, Inc. – 501.c.3

**The Cultural Museum of African Art will be located in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, NY; it has no relation or association with Vira Jones’ Bedford Stuyvesant Museum of African Art.

 

 

 

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