The African Origin of Civilization Myth or Reality by Cheikh Anta Diop

Today, scholars universally recognize Africa as the source of our common ancestry. But in 1974, Senegalese scholar and humanist Cheikh Anta Diop (1923–1986) shocked and challenged historians with his groundbreaking book, The African Origin of Civilization: Myth or Reality . In that now-classic text, he asserted that ancient Egypt—whose civilization was a source for the subsequent development of cultural traditions in the rest of the African continent and the Western world—belongs to Africa. In recognition of Diop's visionary call to acknowledge Africa's foundational role in major cultural developments, The Metropolitan Museum of Art's exhibition The African Origin of Civilization , opening December 14, will present, for the first time in the Museum's history, iconic works from its collections from West and Central Africa alongside art from ancient Egypt. Additionally, important creations by master sculptors from sub-Saharan Africa will be highlighted in permanent collection galleries across the Museum.
Forty-two masterpieces of African art spanning five millennia will be displayed in the exhibition, which features highlights from two areas of The Met collection—the Department of Egyptian Art and The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing—in a series of visual and thematic juxtapositions. Twenty-one examples of the artistry from ancient Egypt, created between about 3650 and 350 B.C.E., will be paired with 21 works from sub-Saharan Africa, ranging in date from the 16th to the mid-20th century and representing more than a dozen distinct artistic traditions. Materials primarily include gold and other metals, stone, wood, and ceramics. Despite the chronological and geographical distance between the works in these two distinct collections, visitors will discern unexpected parallels and contrasts that will deepen their understanding of the breadth and depth of Africa as a source of civilization with unparalleled complexity and longevity.

The exhibition is made possible by The Daniel P. Davison Fund and Louise Grunwald.

Since 1982, The Met's holdings of art from sub-Saharan Africa have been displayed in The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing, whose galleries are currently undergoing a major renovation, reenvisioning, and reinstallation. Launched six years ago, this capital project—scheduled for completion in 2024—provides a unique opportunity for visitors to experience superb works of art from West and Central Africa in new contexts across The Met campus.

Exhibition Overview

Objects have been discovered in tombs and other archaeological contexts that reflect well-established trade networks between ancient Egypt and Europe and Western Asia. And the interconnections of the great civilizations of ancient Greece, ancient Rome, and ancient Egypt, as evidenced by shared motifs and artistic forms, has often been commented upon. Less noted, but no less important, is Egypt's inextricably deep cultural connection with the African continent at large, and the two-way exchange of materials and ideas between Egypt in northern Africa and the rest of the continent to the south. The 21 pairings in this exhibition foreground the resonance of shared ideas and motifs across Africa's many cultures: family, motherhood, love, kingship, regalia, beauty, and the natural world. A timeline of some 80 major cultural moments in African history encircles the exhibition, underscoring the continent's importance as both the fount of human creative expression from its inception and the site of continued cultural dynamism.

The exhibition serves as a springboard for a series of installations of important sculptures from West and Central Africa in permanent collection galleries across the Museum. These "guest appearances" introduce unexpected cross-cultural connections between works of art from different places and times. The first four installatios .it is all about the genesis of civilization in Africaا