The festival, which runs through Nigerian Independence weekend, will feature exhibitions, film screenings, master classes, conversations with filmmakers and artists, a concert and an opportunity for the public to see the celebrated Benin Bronzes before they are returned to Nigeria.
\nNamed for Nigeria\u2019s country code, +234 Connect, is a celebration of African creativity and expression. Visitors will have the opportunity to explore two complementary exhibitions focused on Nigerian art: \u201cIk\u00e9 Ude: Nollywood Portraits\u201d and \u201cBefore Nollywood…The Ideal Photo Studio.\u201d \u201cIk\u00e9 Ude: Nollywood Portraits\u201d features the work of multimedia artist Ik\u00e9 Ude with photographs of the talented people who drive Nollywood. It opened to the public earlier this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore Nollywood…The Ideal Photo Studio,\u201d which opens Tuesday, Sept. 27, will celebrate the photography of Solomon Osagie Alonge (1911-1994), an important figure in early Nigerian studio photography, and the owner of Ideal Photo Studio, the first commercial photography studio in Benin City. Alonge\u2019s studio portraits of Benin City residents in the 1950s and 1960s feature individuals and families photographed with carefully selected costumes, furniture, backdrops and props. The photographs serve as a historical precursor to, and contextualize Ude\u2019s photographs, which use color, attire and other markers to make a bold statement about the power of African identities despite centuries of attempted erasure by Eurocentric art history and notions of beauty. Members of the local Edo community and the public are invited to participate in a Family Photo Shoot on Saturday, Oct. 1, where an on-site stylist will be available to help capture visitors\u2019 best poses in a designed set, inspired by the artworks in the \u201cIk\u00e9 Ude: Nollywood Portraits\u201d exhibition.<\/p>\n
A full schedule of festival programs can be found on the museum\u2019s website. Programming highlights include a screening of the seminal Nollywood movie, \u201cLiving in Bondage,\u201d master classes by Dame Taiwo Ajai-Lycett and Yolanda Okereke, as well as panel discussions and conversations by Nollywood filmmakers and actors, including Obi Emelonye, Chioma Ude, O.C. Ukeje and Tope Oshin.<\/p>\n
Benin Bronzes
\nFrom Sept. 27 through Oct. 11, visitors will also have a final opportunity to appreciate the beauty and creativity of a selection of Benin bronzes, which were part of the museum\u2019s Benin Royal Art collection, due to be officially deaccessioned and returned to Nigeria in a private ceremony Oct. 11. There will also be a screening of the film \u201cInvasion 1897,\u201d which tells the story of the British invasion and looting of the Kingdom of Benin followed by a conversation on the calls for restitution, reparations and the return of artworks to Nigeria. The discussion will include the film\u2019s director Lancelot Imasuen, artist Victor Ehikhamenor, and Prof. Abba Tijani, director general of Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments.<\/p>\n
About the National Museum of African Art
\nThe Smithsonian\u2019s National Museum of African Art is the only museum in the world dedicated solely to the collection, conservation, study, and exhibition of Africa\u2019s arts across time and media. It boasts a collection of over 12,000 artworks spanning more than 1,000 years of African history and includes a variety of media from across the continent.\u202f The museum has a new mission to become a 21st century global African art museum by reimagining itself\u2014art experiences, knowledge production, collections and practices\u2014to better contribute to regenerative art ecosystems on the continent and throughout the diaspora. The aim is to not just be \u2018about\u2019 Africa but to be of Africa and for Africans in the U.S., in Africa and globally. More information is available on the museum’s\u202fwebsite.\u202fFollow the museum on\u202fTwitter,\u202fYouTube,\u202fInstagram\u202fand\u202fFacebook.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Smithsonian\u2019s National Museum of African Art will host +234 Connect, a unique five-day cinematic and exhibition experience celebrating the art, people and cinema of Nigeria, Wednesday, Sept. 28 through Sunday, Oct. 2.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12963,"featured_media":18883,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,12],"tags":[7,30,14],"class_list":{"0":"post-18886","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-culture","8":"category-entertainment","9":"tag-apie-project","10":"tag-culture","11":"tag-entertainment"},"yoast_head":"\n