Herbert M. Cole on Mothers and Children in the Arts of Africa

FOWLER | 11 a.m., Fowler Museum

December 9, 2017

On the African continent, images of mothers and children are found wherever the visual arts are, from early rock-art sites in Egypt and the Sahara to the contemporary arts of South Africa. Found in a variety of materials, from stone, ivory, and metals to beadwork, wood, and even paintings, images of maternity enliven virtually every type of object made in the region.

Defining maternity as simultaneously biological and cultural, art historian Herbert Cole moves from obvious notions of fertility and nurturing to consider the importance of maternity in thought, ritual action and worldview. A book signing of Cole’s Maternity: Mothers and Children in the Arts of Africa will follow in the Fowler Museum Store where copies are available for purchase.