With the newly renovated and reinstalled Arts of Africa Gallery set to open next month, it is an ideal time to take a look back at some previous installations of African art at the DMA.
African Gallery at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Fair Park, in 1972.
African Gallery at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Fair Park, in 1978.
African Gallery at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Fair Park, in 1979.
African Gallery at the Dallas Museum of Art, downtown, in 1989.
African Gallery at the Dallas Museum of Art in 1992.
African Gallery at the Dallas Museum of Art in 1996. This image was taken after the major renovation and reinstallation of the third floor galleries, The Arts of Africa, Asia, and the Pacific, in 1996, the last major renovation of the African Gallery.
It is interesting to see how the installations have changed over time from dark-colored galleries, to white walls, and back to deeper colors, and from primarily cases of three-dimensional objects set in the walls to primarily vitrines so you can see all sides of the object.
Hillary Bober is the Archivist at the Dallas Museum of Art.
For Hillary Bober: I enjoyed your post on the history of the installation of African Art at DMFA/DMA. Regarding the 1972 photograph with the hot pink felt-covered walls, I wonder if you encountered an image of an embroidered map of Africa–or some part of it. DMFA had a very low budget for exhibitions and installations at that time. Graphics were not a priority. The embroidered map was special. It was not commissioned but was done by a DMFA staff member in her free time–Margaret Anne Cullum, who was then Secretary to the Director (then Merrill C. Rueppel). The embroidered map seems especially important because of Margaret Anne’s death this past week. She is well known for her volunteer work as a docent, but I wonder how many members of the DMA community are aware of the broader role Margaret Anne played and over how long a period of time.
If an image of MAC’s map exists, it would seem a fitting PS to your post.
Sincerely,
Carol Robbins
[DMFA/DMA employee 1965-2012]