African Bead Art: Power and Adornment Exhibit Catalogue

African Bead Art: Power and Adornment is the story of art spurred by commerce and trade. Due to the lack of Indigenous glass-making among African societies, the importation of glass beads from Europe and other areas had a galvanizing effect on the arts of sub-Saharan Africa. This catalog shows the variety, creativity and visual effects that African artists achieved by incorporating “foreign” materials and demonstrates the ways in which beads became encoded as powerful signifiers of status and identity. John Pemberton III, the Museum’s curatorial consultant for African art and the guest curator of the exhibition, authored this catalog.

2008. Available in softcover only. 209 pages.