PUBLIC LECTURE: Honoring the Yoruba Great Mother! The Gẹ̀lẹ̀dẹ́ Spectacle in Africa and its Carryovers in the Americas
5pm gallery viewing | 6pm lecture followed by book signing
Dr. Babatunde Lawal, Professor of Art History at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia and renowned scholar of African art, examines the visual culture of the Yoruba and their influences in the Americas. Lawal illuminates the Gẹ̀lẹ̀dẹ́ spectacle—a popular Yoruba community festival of masquerade, dance, and song—as a launching point for exploring broader aspects of Yoruba history and art. Performed by men as a way of honoring the spiritual power of women and female ancestors, the festival ensures community harmony, fertility, and social order within Yoruba society. Stop by The Amistad Center galleries before the lecture to view the Yoruba World exhibition.
Dr. Babatunde Lawal is a professor of Art History He specializes in African, African American and African Diaspora art with a personal research focus on the ancient and contemporary arts of Nigeria, particularly the visual culture of the Yoruba and its influences in the Americas. He has conducted fieldwork in Africa, the Caribbean, United States and Brazil. He has published widely, in addition to presenting papers, chairing sessions and delivering keynote addresses at international conferences within and outside the United States. Lawal has served as visiting professor at Dartmouth College, Columbia University, Harvard University, Williams College, and the State University of Bahia in Salvador-Brazil, among others. He has also served as a consultant for major museums such as the British Museum, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Newark Museum, Detroit Institute of Arts, Chrysler Museum, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Seattle Art Museum and High Museum of Art. Lawal received his Ph.D and MA in art history from Indiana University in Bloomington, as well as a BA in graphic design from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
Free. Registration encouraged.
Presented with The Amistad Center for Art & Culture in conjunction with the exhibition Yoruba World. Support provided by the Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation Fund at The Wadsworth.
Portrait of Dr. Babatunde Lawal, courtesy of the scholar.
