Benefactor, Patron and Sponsor Exhibition Tour | Critical Fabulation Curated by Simone Leigh

Borrowing its title from cultural historian Saidiya Hartman, Critical Fabulation brings together objects from across the Art Institute of Chicago’s collections of African, American, and European art to disrupt museum conventions. Organized by contemporary artist Simone Leigh (American, born 1967), in collaboration with museum curators, the installation defies the tidy organization of our permanent galleries along lines of chronology, geography, and media. In her own work, Leigh draws from a broad array of African and African diasporic traditions. To select works for this installation, the artist posed questions about the ways in which African objects are valued and understood today: Who determines the significance of historical and cultural objects? What deserves to be presented?

The installation presents African artworks such as Oromo pilgrim staffs, South African ceramics, and ritual medicine objects alongside 19th and 20th century paintings, sculptures, and more. The juxtapositions prompt visual relationships that may reflect—or obscure—the African continent’s aesthetic influence throughout the world. We invite visitors to explore their own curiosities and stage their own encounters with the artworks on view.

You must be a Benefactor, Patron or Sponsor member to attend this complimentary event.