This program follows an exciting interdisciplinary seminar on African Objects in Museums, where students examined a series of objects including painted Yoruba drums and Kongo minkisi. To continue discussions, the Fowler Museum, the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, the UCLA/Getty Conservation Program, UCLA Information Studies, and the UCLA Africa Studies Center are hosting a program where we will engage three specialists who are artists, scholars, and/or practitioners. The two speakers are members of the Afro-Cuban and Cuban diaspora, respectively.
Bárbaro Martínez-Ruiz is academic adviser to the von Christierson Collection and a celebrated scholar in the fields of the African Diaspora.
José Bedia is a critically acclaimed Cuban artist. His work explores spirituality, the African Diaspora and the cross-sections of spiritual identity. The von Christierson Collection currently hold several of his works and is proud to celebrate this artist.
