Introduction to Museum Studies, A503/A403
Elizabeth Kryder-Reid and Larry Zimmerman
IUPUI

Video Guide

In and Out of Africa

Produced by Ilisa Barbash, Lucien Taylor.
59 min. Color. 1993.

Summary

"This extraordinary documentary is one of the most intelligent, perceptive, and engaging films ever made on African culture and art. It explores with irony and humor issues of authenticity, taste, and racial politics in the transnational trade in African art.

Interweaving stories of Western collectors, Muslim traders, African artists and intellectuals, and the filmmakers themselves, the film focuses on a remarkable art dealer from Niger named Gabai Barre. It follows him all the way from the rural Ivory Coast to East Hampton, Long Island, where he bargains for a sale. The film shows how (through occasionally hilarious and frequently fantastic tales about the art objects) he adds economic value and changes the "meaning" of what he sells by interpreting and mediating between the cultural values of African producers and Western consumers.

For Baare and the other African art traders, the animist "fetishes" they sell are simply commodities, bought and sold like any other. Or so they say. For Western collectors, the best, most "authentic" pieces are considered Art (with a capital A), and their economic value is purely coincidental. Or so they say.

"In and Out of Africa" is a classic work that will richly repay viewing in a variety of courses in African studies, cultural anthropology, and art. It was produced by Ilisa Barbash and Lucien Taylor; it features Gabai Baare; and it is based on original research by Christopher Steiner."

―Taken from the Berkeley Media Center Online Catalog description

Awards

Royal Anthropological Institute Commendation

Society for Visual Anthropology honoree

American Anthropological Assn. honoree

African Studies Assn. honoree

Chicago Intl. Film Festival Award

Natl. Educational Film Festival Award

American Film Festival Award

Margaret Mead Film Festival honoree

Study Questions

Using your viewing of “In and Out of Africa” and your reading of Susan Vogel’s “Always True to the Object, in Our Fashion,” consider the following questions in your small group:

· What makes these objects meaningful?

· Where do you think “authenticity” and meaning reside for these artifacts and who are/should be the arbiter of that significance?

· What is worthy of being in museums?

· Are “museum quality” and “meaningful” the same thing?

Be prepared to discuss your answers with the larger group.

Background Image: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, dedicated to arts, crafts and history, the museum has a large collection of paintings from the Dutch Golden Age.

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