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These photos look like documents of a bygone era.

These photos look like documents of a bygone era.

But they do not document anything that actually happened. Using artificial intelligence, they combine West African portrait photography, colonial archives, fashion images and historical exhibition scenes into a possible past....

These photos look like documents of a bygone era.

But they do not document anything that actually happened. Using artificial intelligence, they combine West African portrait photography, colonial archives, fashion images and historical exhibition scenes into a possible past....

Memories of a Past That Never Happened

Memories of a Past That Never Happened

At first glance, these photographs appear to come from 1950s New York. They show museum visits, gallery openings, shop windows, elegant gatherings, and seemingly incidental encounters with African art. Their...

Memories of a Past That Never Happened

At first glance, these photographs appear to come from 1950s New York. They show museum visits, gallery openings, shop windows, elegant gatherings, and seemingly incidental encounters with African art. Their...

An object’s biography – The Night of Djenné-Jeno

An object’s biography – The Night of Djenné-Jeno

...one can imagine ‘grave robbers’ plundering graves beneath a tent in the pale glow of a camping lamp, whilst a full moon tries to illuminate their sinister goings-on.I took the...

An object’s biography – The Night of Djenné-Jeno

...one can imagine ‘grave robbers’ plundering graves beneath a tent in the pale glow of a camping lamp, whilst a full moon tries to illuminate their sinister goings-on.I took the...

The Myth of Provenance Research

The Myth of Provenance Research

When Historical Narratives Replace the Biography of an Object An artwork has a history. Yet this history does not reveal itself automatically. It must be reconstructed from traces, documents, memories,...

The Myth of Provenance Research

When Historical Narratives Replace the Biography of an Object An artwork has a history. Yet this history does not reveal itself automatically. It must be reconstructed from traces, documents, memories,...

When Evidence Becomes Undesirable – Methodological Questions in Benin Research

When Evidence Becomes Undesirable – Methodologi...

"The uncertainty surrounding questions of dating has encouraged a proliferation of questionable expert opinions and authentications of high-quality copies, which continue to be produced not only in Benin City but...

When Evidence Becomes Undesirable – Methodologi...

"The uncertainty surrounding questions of dating has encouraged a proliferation of questionable expert opinions and authentications of high-quality copies, which continue to be produced not only in Benin City but...

The Tada Bronzes Between Archaeologically Documented Evidence and New Comparative Material: Toward a Reassessment of a Famous Sculptural Type

The Tada Bronzes Between Archaeologically Docum...

The seated copper figure from Tada in the Nupe region of Nigeria has been regarded as one of the outstanding masterpieces of medieval West African metal sculpture ever since its...

The Tada Bronzes Between Archaeologically Docum...

The seated copper figure from Tada in the Nupe region of Nigeria has been regarded as one of the outstanding masterpieces of medieval West African metal sculpture ever since its...