Will Heinrich of the New York Times recommends SIGHTLINES on Peace, Power & Prestige: Metal Arts in Africa in the 2023 Fall Arts Preview, calling it an “ingenious remix of a show” that “displays historic metalwork like a pair of elegant brass anklets from nineteenth-century Nigeria alongside works by Sharif Bey, Zohra Opoku and other artists from Africa and the African diaspora.” Delaina Dixon of Ebony magazine agrees, naming SIGHTLINES among a “host of stunning exhibitions and thought-provoking installations” to see this fall. Essence magazine’s Okla Jones added her voice to the chorus, calling SIGHTLINES a “can’t miss” show. And in its Fall Art Guide, Hyperallergic wrote, “Metal works by contemporary artists including Otobong Nkanga, Radcliffe Bailey, and Lubaina Himid are presented here alongside dozens of nineteenth- and twentieth-century objects ranging from ceremonial swords to currency. As [SIGHTLINES] traces the art historical significance of African metal art, it simultaneously delves into its sociopolitical implications. Sammy Baloji’s 2022 documentary Of the Moon and Velvet, which examines metal extraction in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is among the highlights of the exhibition.”

Exhibition Description
SIGHTLINES on Peace, Power & Prestige: Metal Arts in Africa brings leading contemporary artists into conversation with historic African metal arts. Sculptures, photography, weavings, metal work, and multimedia installations by Radcliffe Bailey, Sammy Baloji, Sharif Bey, Lubaina Himid, Bronwyn Katz, Kapwani Kiwanga, Abigail Lucien, Tsedaye Makonnen, Otobong Nkanga, Julia Phillips, Zohra Opoku, Nari Ward, and Amanda Williams create sightlines with staffs and figures by the Mande smiths of Mali; regalia of the Edo chiefs of Nigeria; sacred objects of the Tusian, Gan, and Lobi peoples of Burkina Faso; ceremonial swords, gold weights, and personal adornment of the Akan people of Ghana; currencies, ceremonial staffs, and weaponry from Congo; and other extraordinary works in metal drawn from Peace, Power & Prestige, curated by Susan Cooksey at the University of Florida’s Harn Museum of Art. SIGHTLINES, curated by Drew Thompson, features exhibition design by AD—WO, the architecture firm of Emanuel Admassu and Jen Wood.