YSU Cliffe College of Creative Arts announces 16th Annual African American History Month Art Show

The 16th Annual African American History Month Art Show will begin Wednesday, February 1, in the Judith Rae Solomon Gallery in Bliss Hall, Cliffe College of Creative Arts. The exhibition, "Makonde Sculptures," showcases the collection of Tazim & Dr. Nazim Jaffer. An opening reception will be held on Wednesday, February 1, 2023, at 5:00 PM in the Gallery, followed by an artist presentation and discussion at 6:00 PM in the McDonough Museum of Art, Lecture Hall 3000. 

Tazim Jaffer is an artist and visual anthropologist of Indian heritage, born in Tanzania. As a visual anthropologist, Tazim has received numerous grants to research life-cycle rituals and women's economic empowerment from African, East Indian, South Asian, and Pacific Island cultures. A significant aspect of her studies has focused primarily on Makonde wood carvings that have been marginalized in the United States and the Western world. Tazim argues that the characterization of Makonde wood sculpture as “tourist art” is inaccurate because the “traditional” aspect of Makonde sculpture is an authentic art form embedded with unique aesthetic qualities and socio-religious content in material culture. Tazim has a record of solo, invitational, group, and juried exhibitions nationally and internationally for the past 40 years.