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https://www.blackenterprise.com/art-collector-talks-african-art-and-gives-buying-tips-2/
Originally Published Aug. 3, 2015
Nestled in the heart of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York, lies a $10 million African art collection owned by Eric Edwards, a former AT&T executive.
“My love for African history began as a child, but I didn’t start purchasing art until the 1970s,” says Edwards. “I had no intentions on becoming an art collector. I initially brought African art because it gave me peace and tranquility when I left my everyday life working in New York City.”
But after spending more than 40 years collecting artifacts that represent 54 African countries, and 4,000 years of history, Edwards realized his private collection needed a home. Edwards decided to make a home for his collection opening, The Cultural Museum of African Art.
“The principle of the museum is based on the West African Sankofa principle: You don’t know where you are going, if you don’t know where you’ve been,” says Edwards. The museum will feature his private collection of more than 2,000 pieces of African art, a world-class library, youth education programs, and a research and media center.
We caught up with Edwards to learn more about his plans for opening a museum and tips for investing in African art.
BLACK ENTERPRISE: Where does your love for Africa come from? Who has inspired you the most?
Edwards: As a child my parents inspired my passion for Africa, especially my father, who was an immigrant from Barbados. During that time, because of the state of racism against people of African descent in the United States, he was very concerned about what we, as children, would encounter as we entered the public school system in New York City. He was certain we would not be able to learn about African culture and history as he had in Barbados. So he took it upon himself to teach his children everything about African history and its many gifts to the world.
Tell us about the experience that inspired you to purchase your first piece of art.
I also have a passion for audiophilia—high-fidelity sound and equipment. Many years ago, I was a member of the two top audio files society in New York. We would have meetings at different members’ homes in the tri-state area. These people were doctors, engineers, scientists, psychiatrists, etc., who had a passion for music. While visiting their impressive homes, I started to notice a lot of African art. These people were of non-African descent. I asked them how they acquired their pieces of art and they told me about art galleries and auction houses such as Sotheby’s and Christie’s. I immediately became totally absorbed with artifacts and what they represented. The passion never ended.
One day while on my lunch break at AT&T, I took a walk through the SoHo area and I came across an African art gallery. I fell in love with a maternity figure from the Ivory Coast—a woman holding a baby [while] sitting on a birth chair. I purchased it for $300. I just put it on my desk at my office. But looking back I had no clue that this would ignite a flame in me to start a collection.
What do you look for when purchasing art? Do you have a preference for a certain time period?
For over 40 years, the one thing that I look for is the history behind each piece.
At the same time I started collecting art I started purchasing books on African history. I built a library just as powerful as my collection. I wanted to know everything I could about each piece.
Not only is the art beautiful, it’s three-dimensional. Each piece was created for unique purposes such as utilitarian items that were used for everyday life: protection or warfare, religious, funerary or maybe even to honor a particular ancestry or system of royalty.
Africa is a continent of secrets. Many of the pieces in my collection are pieces from a secret society. Societies that educated young girls on how to become women or trained young boys in warfare, how to be a man or their responsibility to their ancestors.
Can you share your best piece of advice for investing in or buying African art?
I firmly believe everyone should own a piece of African art.
There’s a lot of African art out there so people should find and buy a piece of art that was made in Africa. There’s nothing wrong with “tourist art” but it’s important to know that it was made in Africa even if it was made in a factory. It should also represent a particular cultural group or tradition.
If you’re an aspiring art collector, you should go directly to the source. I recommend that you do a lot of research to find the artisans. I’ve purchased art from all around the world and my pieces go back 4,000 years. These pieces were used in rituals; they came from royal houses and were utilized in every day life. I’ve brought art from prestigious auction houses, galleries, and private collections around the world. Over the years, I’ve also developed relationships with royal families over in Africa, and I purchased pieces directly from them. For instance, when I purchased one piece of art from a royal family, officials from Africa had to come to my home and perform a ceremony for me to take possession of the artifact.
You should also document your purchases. Because of my technology background, I developed a database of information to document each piece in my collection.
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It’s been almost a year since we lost Paul Reubens, the actor who brought the iconic Pee-wee Herman to life. But fans have ensured the memory of Pee-wee lives on, finding ways to keep him alive in memes and tribute videos. Thanks to the folks at Laughing Squid, we’ve learned about a YouTuber by the name of eli_handle_b․wav. They have edited scenes from the game Cyberpunk 2077 and included Pee-wee from his cinematic debut in Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. Whether it’s Night City, California, or a 1980s shopping center, one truth remains: you just don’t separate a boy from his bike. There are consequences.
Pee-wee was always trying to look like a tough guy in Tim Burton’s classic 1985 movie. So he somehow fits right into the dystopian future world of Cyberpunk 2077. After all, this is the same Pee-wee who got inducted into the Satan’s Helpers biker gang by putting on an unforgettable dance number. The same Pee-wee who said “I’m a loner, Dottie. A rebel.” Ok, maybe his wardrobe doesn’t go, but nobody’s perfect. This is not the first time that eli_handle_b․wav has mixed classic comedies into video games. On their channel, they have videos showcasing Shrek in Fallout 4, and Austin Powers in Mass Effect. They even had Ace Ventura, also in Cyberpunk 2077.
Pee-wee somehow has a way of turning up in various other movies he originally wasn’t in. Well, in fan-made videos anyway. Some of our favorites include the time he was in Jurassic Park, or when he took the place of Kylo Ren in Star Wars. We don’t think anyone has put Pee-wee on board the Titanic yet, but we figure it’s only a matter of time. Especially now that he’s gone though, we appreciate seeing that face and hearing that distinctive laughter pop up anywhere.
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Alex Garland’s Civil War presents a near-future dystopian United States at a time when the United States exists, in reality, as an increasingly dystopian colonial empire at the precipice of collapse. It uses the presently divisive state of American politics to draw audiences in to watch a movie about how much more divisive it can be. It’s a very polished and well-designed movie that delivers a masterclass on neutrality during wartime at a time when, in reality, neutrality enables widescale oppression and terrorism. It talks about any number of things but doesn’t explain anything.
Civil War follows a crew of journalists documenting the potential final days of the United States as we know it. The United States is now divided into four factions. Texas and California have seceded from the country to form the Western Forces and are gathering troops to take on the US military. The journalists are heading to the last stronghold of the federal government, Washington, DC – as it is planned to be besieged by the Western Forces.
There aren’t too many plot holes in this movie, but the ones that exist are looming and overshadow any of the intensity, sentimentality, and emotion this movie wants to leave audiences with. Like, ‘Why is this conflict even happening?’ At no point in the movie does it become clear how these two states (which have no grounded explanation for a political allegiance or alliance) would agree to a coup. We’re given a little information from an interview with the President (played by Nick Offerman) with a quickfire session of questions about a third term and drone strikes on American soil (which already happened IRL). We can start and stop right there, but we’re not.
Civil War follows Lee, Joel, Sammy, and Jesse as a ragtag group of journalists en route to the last real news story left. Joel (played by Wagner Moura) and Sammy (acting legend Stephen McKinley Henderson) are reporters who explore the nature of asking the questions that make people think rather than coming to the door with their own biases. Lee (Kirsten Dunst) and Jesse (Cailee Spaeny) are photojournalists, looking to take the picture that makes people ask questions in place of asking the questions themselves.
The art of journalism lies in its integrity. That ‘integrity’ is achieved by leaving a bias behind and seeking ‘the’ truth. Not one truth. Not ‘your’ truth. A universal truth. That truth is missing from this movie. It’s a piece of fiction, so we shouldn’t go looking for the answers to life in it. However, the movie is grounded in and was marketed as (blame the trailers for that) a reality so close to our own that it comes as a slap in the face of the audience’s intelligence to be faced with the absence of that truth. Instead, we follow the inaction and neutrality of their profession. Through the lens of journalism, Civil War dodges every truth about the ties between politics and war. It treats them the way we would a natural disaster, without any real questioning as to why it ever came to pass. It gets chalked up to some phantom dictatorial event that led to a President’s third term (and the disbanding of the FBI) and never explored beyond that.
The performances are great, so many great actors in a small cast make it easy for them to play. Jesse Plemons as a nationalist xenophobe in rose-colored glasses makes the skin crawl in the best way. That man plays no games in any role. Another thing it does well is go hard for neutrality using the ‘intimate distance’ of photography. Lee digs for the shocking, impactful image that can define a moment while Jesse looks to capture the capturing of that same moment. Civil War does well with defining the distance some people have to the urgent issues they are facing. Some of the strongest scenes of the movie are punctuated by stills ‘taken’ by Lee and Jesse during climatic moments.
Parables around things like neutrality are damning as the film hit theaters while an active genocide, global collusion to empower the genociding forces, mass protests, increased police violence, and the least believed-in American political candidates in an election year are all front and center in the public consciousness. More damning still is that despite a theme exploring the relationship between the ‘intimate distance’ of photography and the neutrality of journalism throughout the movie, it still finds time to highlight Black characters being brutalized onscreen with greater detail than most.
Despite everything it pretended to bring to the table with the trailer, Civil War has no teeth. In its attempt to be a sounding board to the times, it ends up being kind of oblivious as a piece of media. There’s a scene early on where a Black man is being beaten, restrained, and set on fire with Lee standing a few feet away clicking pictures. It left me with a feeling in the pit of my stomach. An ache and pang I’ve felt when I’ve seen police violence enacted on civilians surrounded by throngs of people with phones who outnumber the police. The look in the eye of someone who knows they can get away with murder because of the inaction or neutrality of others brings me to this Max Eastman quote every time: “People who demand neutrality in any situation are usually not neutral but in favor of the status quo.” Civil War feels so much like a demand for neutrality, lest we lose our blessed, stable ‘normality’.
There was such an opportunity for this movie to talk about substantive and pervasive concerns. Instead, it sits like a status quo parable at a time when the status quo is so harmful. Maybe it came out at a bad time. Maybe it isn’t self-aware enough to know that. Maybe folks tried to capitalize on real-life pain and suffering to make a point they weren’t equipped to make. Either way, this movie comes across as a feckless attempt to say…something… and misses the mark.
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The post The Truth has No Teeth: ‘Civil War’ Review appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.
Ellen Shope-Whitley By Rayna Reid Rayford ·Updated April 24, 2024
How did a former hip-hop journalist without a bachelor’s degree land one of the most exclusive positions working for America’s first Black president?
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