AFRICANIST WITH NIGERIAN BACKGROUND HEADS SMITHSONIAN MUSEUM

[USIA]

*97012803.AAF AFRICANIST WITH NIGERIAN BACKGROUND HEADS SMITHSONIAN MUSEUM (Roslyn Walker is also Olowe of Ise scholar) (660) By Jim Fisher-Thompson USIA Staff Writer WASHINGTON -- A museum professional and longtime aficionada of Nigerian art has been chosen to head the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African Art, the only museum in the United States dedicated to the collection, exhibition, and study of African art. Roslyn Walker, former senior curator at the Museum of African Art, succeeds Sylvia Williams, who died unexpectedly in February 1996. Her appointment was announced on January 15. Nigerian art connoisseurs will be familiar with Walker's name because from 1973 to 1975 she was curator of collections at the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ibadan. She also worked as registrar at the Federal Department of Antiquities at the Nigerian National Museum in Lagos and has become a noted scholar of work by Yoruba sculptor Olowe of Ise (1873-1938). Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution Michael Heyman says of Walker, "She is a distinguished art historian and a seasoned museum professional and is widely respected throughout the African art and museum communities." After earning a doctorate in art history from Indiana University, Walker joined the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of African Art in 1981. Since then, she has used her experience and knowledge of West African art to help organize a number of exhibitions, including "Explorations: Yoruba, Temne, and Baga"; "African Mankala"; "African Art in the Cycle of Life"; and "Between Man and the Gods: Sacrifice and Ceremony on a Cast Metal Ring." It was in Nigeria, while working on the African Museum of Art's inaugural exhibition, "African Art in the Cycle of Life," that Walker became entranced by a set of palace doors sculpted by the Yoruba artist Olowe. Since the early 1980s, she has focused on the elusive details of the life of the Yoruba court artist. In 1991, Walker told a Smithsonian publication that "the greatest challenge has been trying to resolve such questions as: When was Olowe born? What influence, if any, did other artists or art styles in Africa have on his work? How did he come to develop such a unique carving style? Did he have assistants or did he work alone? Was he as notable in southern Nigeria, where he lived and worked, as he is now?" Walker explained that little documentation on Olowe exists, mainly because the Yoruba culture had no written language. Important people, however, were remembered in "oriki" -- praise songs that celebrated a person's achievements, which have been handed down from generation to generation. Another source of information on Olowe that Walker discovered while searching for material on the sculptor is Philip Allison, a retired British forester who met Olowe in 1937. Allison was able to provide Walker with early photographs of Olowe's works and a sketchy physical description of the artist. Walker says the more she sees of Olowe's work, the more "intrigued" she becomes because "his [high relief] carving style was distinctly different from other Yoruba artists" of his time. So far, Walker has been able to identify Olowe's birthplace in Efon Alaiye, a town near Ise, but she is having trouble fleshing out a more detailed chronology of the artist's life and work. Walker's work thus far on Olowe will culminate in an exhibition at the museum in 1998. The National Museum of African Art, which evolved from the private collection of former foreign service officer Warren Robbins, became part of the Smithsonian Institution in 1979. The museum's permanent collection of 7,000 objects includes traditional and modern works of art from the continent. In addition to its exhibitions and public programs, the museum maintains photographic archives and a library, which are made available to scholars and artists. (Readers who might have information about Olowe of Ise are invited to write to Walker at the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, 950 Independence Ave., S.W., Washington D.C. 20560.) NNNN