Marla C. Berns – författare

Winner of the Arnold Rubin Outstanding Publication Award from the Arts Council of the African Studies AssociationThe Benue River Valley is the source of some of the most abstract, dramatic, and inventive sculpture in sub-Saharan Africa. A vast region, the Valley extends from the heart of present-day Nigeria eastward to its border with Cameroon, and is home to a large number of ethnic and linguistic groups, all of whom have produced sculptures that are remarkable for their variety.This book brings together figurative wood sculptures and ceramic vessels, masks, and elaborate bronze and iron regalia drawn from public and private collections in Europe and the United States, selected to exemplify important typologies within the region, along with many historical photographs. The 18 contributors demonstrate that the stylistic tendencies were constantly evolving due to cultural exchanges, mutual influences, and other points of contact in an area that like the Benue River itself was historically in a state of flux. These objects speak to us not only through their superb formal qualities but also through the circumstances of their being rooted in a turbulent past, situated between war and colonization.

This lavishly illustrated volume, demonstrating the scope and depth of the vast and remarkable global collections of the Fowler Museum at ucla, has been produced as part of the ongoing celebration of the institution's fiftieth-anniversary year. It recalls many of the highlights of the Museum's formation, focusing not only on collections development but also on a long history of programmatic innovation. The book begins with an essay by the Museum's director, Marla C. Berns, which sketches the Fowler's history, and this is followed by a section reproducing in color and large format 250 stunning works from the collection. Berns's lengthy history of involvement with the Fowler - which began when she worked for the Museum as a graduate intern while pursuing her doctorate at UCLA - and the innovative strategies she has introduced, have uniquely situated her to author this book.

For more than two millennia, African blacksmiths have transformed one of Earth's most basic natural resources into objects of life-changing utility, empowerment, prestige, spiritual potency, and astonishing artistry—shaping African cultures in the most fundamental ways. Striking Iron combines interdisciplinary scholarship with vivid illustrations to offer the most comprehensive treatment to date of the blacksmith's art in sub-Saharan Africa. Interspersed throughout are photographs of more than 250 diverse works from over 100 ethnic groups—including tools, blades, currencies, wood sculptures studded with iron, musical instruments, and accoutrements—with field photographs documenting blacksmiths at work and objects in use. Seventeen contributors write from the disciplinary perspectives of art history, art, anthropology, archaeology, history, and astronomy, examining how the blacksmiths' virtuosity can harness powers of the natural and spiritual worlds, effect change and ensure protection, assist with life's challenges and transitions, and enhance the efficacies of sacred acts.Exhibition dates: Musée du Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac, Paris, November 19, 2019, to March 29, 2020