Kongo Across the Waters by Susan Cooksey

Kongo Across the Waters by Susan Cooksey

Kongo Across the Watersis an ambitious and surpassingly beautiful art catalogue. It was originally produced to accompany an exhibition, mounted by the Harn Museum of the University of Florida, that is currently on view at the Carter Center in Atlanta. It explores the culture of the Kongo people of West Africa. Kongo was a once mighty kingdom that included parts of the French Congo (Congo-Brazzaville), Congo Belge (the former Zaire), and Angola. Further, during the years of the slave trade, many members of its Bantu ethnic group were transported to the southern United States, Haiti, Cuba, and Brazil. The exhibition and the catalogue benefitted substantially from the loan of objects by the Royal Museum of Central Africa in Belgium, adding depth to our understanding the complexity of Kongo cosmology, ceremony, and art. But, for my money, the most exceptional feature of both show and book was the Harn Museum's decision to focus as well on the impact of the Kongo people on the New World. This makes both the show and book critically relevant for those wanting to know more about the contributions of West African culture to the larger patchwork of life in these United States. Readers intrigued by this interplay may also wish to pick up a copy of Robert Farris Thompson's Flash of the Spirit: African and Afro-American Art and Philosophy. This modestly-sized book, published in the early 1980s, examines not only the New World influence of the Kongo people but also that of the Yoruba, Mande, and Ejagham.

Susan Cooksey is curator of African Art at the Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art. Florida, USA
Robin Poynor is professor of art history at the University of Florida, USA.
Hein Vanhee is a curator of African collections at the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Belgium.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780813049458
ISBN 10	0813049458
Title	Kongo Across the Waters
Author	Susan Cooksey
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	University Press of Florida
Year published	2013-12-03
Number of pages	448
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.