The Caption Copany Inc.

Archive for June, 2005

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art in Washington DC is holding an exhibition entitled, “Spectacular display - the art of Nkanu initiation rituals”, from December 16-March 3. Go see it. But read this and some other things before you do, so you can open you thinking to some important issues that may or may not be obvious to you at the exhibition. The exhibition features the Nkanu, a people about whom little is readily available, so in that sense, this is a constructive and useful exhibition. But the Smithsonian describes the Nkanu as “peoples who live in Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (and) organize initiation rites for boys and young men.” That jostled our nerves, not because it is untrue, but rather because it seems too constraining a description of people. So we tried to find out more. It was not easy. Here’s what we learned. Read the rest of this entry »