Figure c. 20th century

Editor: This striking wood sculpture, simply titled "Figure" and dating to the 20th century, is currently housed at the Minneapolis Institute of Art and attributed to the Akan people. There's a simplicity and directness to its form. What layers of meaning are we potentially missing by only focusing on it as an isolated aesthetic object? Curator: That’s a crucial question. The abstracted form immediately speaks to broader societal issues of representation and power. It’s easy to detach such an object, but we have to consider it in the context of the Akan people, specifically their cultural traditions around, perhaps, fertility or ancestral veneration. Does this form evoke, for you, any discussions about gender? What do you make of the emphasized head in contrast to other features? Editor: The headplate seems almost exaggerated, almost like it has been flattened. Does that flattened affect relate to idealised female beauty standards perhaps? And in connection, would a community's access to material contribute to this aesthetic style? Curator: Exactly. Access, or lack thereof, fundamentally shapes artistic expression. Now, thinking intersectionally, how might we examine this work beyond the typical lens of art history? What about colonialism's role in the object's eventual placement in a Western museum? Who gets to decide how this "Figure" is framed and understood? How might it feel for someone within the Akan community to see its cultural artifacts removed from its context displayed within another one? Editor: I didn't think about that! Considering it through that lens raises even more questions than answers, doesn't it? Curator: Precisely. It reminds us that art isn’t created or received in a vacuum. It's a constant dialogue with power structures, histories of oppression, and potential for resistance. Editor: Thank you. I’ll definitely keep that perspective in mind moving forward when looking at works such as this!