Centre of African Studies




Visiting Research Fellowships 2013-14

With support from the A G Leventis Foundation, the Centre of African Studies was able to appoint two Visiting Research Fellows from disciplines in the humanities and social sciences for a Fellowship starting in October 2013.
The aim of the Fellowships is to enable the Fellows
to focus on a period of research and writing in Cambridge.
The two appointed Fellows are:
Dr Egodi Uchendu, Department of History and International Studies, University of Nigeria
Dr Ferdinand Okwaro, Institute of Anthropology Gender and African Studies, University of Nairobi, Kenya

Cambridge/Africa Collaborative Research Programme 2012-13
With support from the Leverhulme Trust and the Isaac Newton Trust, a group of five Africa-based scholars, chosen out of a competition organised around the theme of Art and Museums in Africa, is in Cambridge for six months of research. Their tenure will conclude with a workshop in Cambridge and a conference in Africa.


The research fellows are:
Dr. Ahmed Adam, Department of Archaeology, Khartoum University
Dr. Atta Kwami, Independent artist, art historian and curator
Ms. Ness Leibhammer, Curator, traditional southern African art at the Johannesburg Art Gallery
Dr. Ohioma Pogoson, Senior Research Fellow, honorary curator of the Museum of the
Centre of African Studies, Ibadan University
Dr. Mathias Alubafi, Department of History of Art, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg

Art and Museums in Africa
African art has long been globally famous but has also been controversial
both intellectually and politically. Most obviously, the scramble for
African art engaged in by western museums and art collectors has been
condemned as an appropriation, as has the borrowing of forms and motifs
derived from African arts by European modernist artists. Within
disciplines such as art history and anthropology, there has been much
argument about appropriate methods and concepts for the study of African
art traditions. In the epoch of decolonization efforts were made to
establish new museums in African states, relevant to local aspirations and
new national cultures. Over the same period efforts have been made to
revive customary art practices, and to create new craft industries,
sometimes in the context of post-conflict and AIDS-prevention community
projects. Over the last 50 years modernist and contemporary arts have also
emerged and have gained increasing international recognition, while
typically lacking secure financial or institutional support within African
states.
This theme aims to support a wide range of interests in historical and
contemporary arts in Africa and in changing practices in local and national
museums and art institutions.

Research Horizons
Conversations across continents.
Each year, academic dialogue is enriched at the Centre of African Studies by the arrival of a group of African scholars who spend up to six months researching and working together.
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Contact the Centre of African Studies, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge. CB3 9DT.
Email centre@african.cam.ac.uk
Tel. 01223 334396 Fax 01223 769329
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