Ten original sculptures carved by Lobi craftsmen of Ghana are on display at FAMU Meek-Eaton Black Archives Research Center and Museum through December 16, 2023. The sculptures provide insight into daily life, spirituality, and agricultural practices of the tribe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Ghana’s Lobi craftsmen were known to be skilled, imaginative, and non-Christian, with the purpose of protecting women and children, homes, crops, domestic animals, and hunters. They also acted as a warning to those considering venturing into protected lands and homes or stealing from the property owner.
The exhibition launches a new series called on Land, the Environment, and the African Diaspora presented by the Center in partnership with the new Lola Hampton Frank Pinder Center for Agroecology and the FAMU African American Studies Department.
“I am extremely excited about the opportunity to present these amazing sculptures to the Tallahassee community,” said Timothy A. Barber, Director of the Black Archives, and exhibit curator. “Upon arriving at FAMU in July 2022, I was immediately drawn to the craftsmanship of the Lobi artisans who created these sculptures from 1870s – 1940s. Each sculpture presents a different outlook on life in the fields of Ghana at the dawn of the emergence of a colonial society in Africa.”
The collection was donated to the Meek-Eaton Black Archives Research Center and Museum in 2019 by the estate of late Professor Nana Apt, a lifelong collector of African art and cultural objects, and the estate of Marian Sylvia Horowitz of Ann Arbor, Michigan, endowed the collection.
Richard Douglass, Ph.D., author “Field Spirits of the Fante” secured, restored, and preserved the donation.