A new Vancouver museum exhibition is shining a light on culture through the lenses of Black communities.
The Museum of Anthropology's (MOA) latest educational attraction, "Sankofa: African Routes, Canadian Roots", explores the relationships between traditional and contemporary African art and Black Canadian contemporary art.
It features 30 works by 16 artists from Vancouver and Nigeria, along with over 100 items from the MOA collection.
"It is an opportunity that feels timely, in that we are marking underserved or underrepresented or systematically erased narratives of African and Black histories, particularly here in Canada, but all across the world," explains guest curator Nanyamka Lewis.
The exhibition focuses on nine themes: recognition, remembrance, reconnection, restoration, reparation, reclamation, restitution, return, and reconstruction.
The word "sankofa" derives from the phrase "to go back and fetch it," a notion that taking pride in personal heritage helps one move into the future.
"It's this idea of moving forward with the past in mind or recalling or reclaiming your past ancestral histories, in order to be able to move forward," adds Lewis.
"Sankofa: African Routes, Canadian Roots" is on at the MOA until Mar. 27, 2022.
The Museum of Anthropology is currently open Tuesday to Sunday. Proof of vaccination is not required for museum attendance; face masks are mandatory inside.
