This roundtable event, offered by UMMA in collaboration with the Africa workshop series of the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies (DAAS), brings together an exciting collection of scholars for a lively discussion of the myths and misconceptions that abound regarding the category “African art.” Coinciding with the arrival at UMMA of a major retrospective exhibition of Nigerian artist El Anatsui, this panel discussion will address how perceptions and misconceptions about art from Africa relate to the work and reception of contemporary African artists and their interaction with the global art world. UMMA is proud to present the following panelists: UM Professor David Doris (History of Art and DAAS), the author of Vigilant Things: On Thieves, Yoruba Anti-aesthetics, and the Strange Fates of Ordinary Objects in Nigeria; Nii Quarcoopome, Detroit Institute of Arts Curator of African Art and head of the Department of Africa, Oceania, and the Indigenous Americas; and University of Toronto Professor of Art History Elizabeth Harney, the author of numerous books on contemporary art from Africa, including In Senghor's Shadow: Art, Politics, and the Avant-Garde in Senegal, 1960–1995.

El Anatsui: When I Last Wrote to You about Africa is organized by the Museum for African Art, New York, and has been supported, in part, by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

Lead support for UMMA’s installation is provided by the University of Michigan Health System, Office of the President, Office of the Provost, Office of the Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, and School of Art & Design's Penny Stamps Speaker Series; the University of Michigan Credit Union; and the James L. and Vivian A. Curtis Endowment Fund. Additional generous support is provided by the University of Michigan African Studies Center, CEW Frances and Sydney Lewis Visiting Leaders Fund, Department of Afroamerican and African Studies, Department of the History of Art, Institute for the Humanities, Museum Studies Program, and School of Natural Resources & Environment.