The 22nd Annual Begemann-Gordon Lecture, African Modernism: Women in Focus, A Special Talk with Lauren Tate Baeza

Wednesday, Feb. 28

5 p.m.

Peabody Auditorium

The High Museum of Art's African art collection is disproportionately representative of peoples and cultures of the modern-day nation of Nigeria, presenting the opportunity to position the institution as specialists in Nigerian art. To enrich and further contextualize this area of distinction, the African art department recently launched an initiative focused on collecting and exhibiting 20th century and modernist Nigerian art. Across subfields, art history has historically privileged male artists, making it difficult for contemporary scholars to access artwork and information about many of the women of artistically and socio-politically important periods. This talk will engage the ways in which this occurs within Nigerian art scholarship and will profile underacknowledged Nigerian women artists of the previous century.

Lauren Tate Baeza is the Fred and Rita Richman Curator of African Art at the High Museum of Art. She previously served as Director of Exhibitions at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, where she curated the Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collection and organized numerous temporary exhibits engaging the visual arts to address social issues. Baeza speaks, lectures, and consults at nonprofit organizations, universities, and federal departments on a range of cultural and sociopolitical topics related to Africa and the African diaspora. She is also the founder of the Lagos Atlanta Artist Residency and a contributing editor at Art Papers.

Co-sponsors: Women and Gender Studies; Dean, College of Arts & Sciences; Department of English; GCSU Women’s Center; Georgia College Leadership Programs, GCSU Cultural Center