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Spencer Museum of Art
The University of Kansas Spencer Museum of Art
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Earthly Vessels: African Ceramics

September 12 – February 7, 2010
South Balcony

The development of African ceramic traditions in agricultural and pastoral societies has yielded a diversity of vessels with unique forms, functions, and symbolic meanings. Vessels are not just or containers for food, water and other necessities of life; they also symbolize life itself from creation to culmination. Drawn from the Spencer’s collection by Nancy Mahaney, SMA Curator of Arts & Cultures of the Americas, Africa, and Oceania, this exhibition of African ceramics will explore the form, function, and meanings of ceramic vessels from across the continent.

Back to Top Public Programs in Conjuction with the Exhibition
9.17
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Reception: Fall @ the Spencer
5:30 PM / Central Court & Galleries
A celebration of the Museum’s fall exhibitions.
10.8
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Special Event: Fall Student Night
6-8 PM / SMA Central Court & Galleries
Event sponsored by the SMA Student / Enjoy music, food, and art activities relating to the fall SMA exhibitions.
10.17
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It Starts with Art: Children's art appreciation classes for ages 5-14 / Bead it!
10:30 AM & 1:30 PM /
Study pattern, design, and the use of natural materials in our African ceramics exhibition. Learn how to make and etch clay beads. / Instructor: Kylie Grater / $ / To enroll, contact SMA Education Department, 785.864.0137 or smakids@ku.edu, or visit the Spencer's website and enroll online. / In conjunction with the exhibition Earthly Vessels: African Ceramics
11.7
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It Starts with Art!: Children's art appreciation classes for ages 5-14 / Where on Earth?
10:30 AM & 1:30 PM /
Excavate what clay and plastic vessels can tell you about a place and its people. Hand-build a pot or weave recycled phone wires into a basket form. / Instructor: Emily Barr, KU design student / $ / To enroll, contact SMA Education Department, 785.864.0137 or smakids@ku.edu, or visit the Spencer's website and enroll online. / In conjunction with the exhibition Earthly Vessels: African Ceramics
11.12
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Film: Moolaade
6 PM / SMA Auditorium
Senegalese writer-director Ousmane Sembene makes an impassioned plea against the practice of salinde, or female circumcision, in this moving portrait of a society in transition. In a West African village run by uncompromising Muslim males, fiery Colle (Fatoumata Coulibaly), provides safe harbor for young girls fleeing their ’cleansing’ rituals. Colle casts a ’moolaade’ spell which will bring harm to anyone who attempts to hurt those under her care, and the villagers are angry but powerless in the face of this magic. But what one man terms ’a minor domestic issue’ soon puts the whole town on the verge of bloodshed. In Senegalese with English subtitles (2004, 124 minutes). / In conjunction with the exhibition Earthly Vessels: African Ceramics