This unprecedented exhibition of more than 140 photographs by photojournalist Margaret Courtney-Clarke pays tribute to African women’s artistic traditions. These living traditions have been passed down through generations. Created over a period of more than twenty years, the photographs comprise a survey of the entire corpus of Courtney-Clarke’s documentary journeys in rural South, West and North Africa. These stunning images pay images pay homage to the beauty that rural African women – as artists and entrepreneurs – create in their daily lives for themselves, their families and their communities, often in the face of ongoing social, political and economic challenges, disruption and upheaval.

Courtney-Clarke introduced this body of work in her books: Ndebele, African Canvas and Imazighen.
The photographs in this exhibition present a range of African interior and exterior housing design, pottery, textiles, beadwork, personal adornment and other decorative arts. More than fifty objects – many of which are presented with photographs of their creators – complement the exhibition and are being seen in public for the first time.

For more information contact the Schomburg Center at 212-491.2200
Gift Shop: 212-491.2206