Jul 03, 2003
DePaul Professor to Exhibit Photographs of West African Palace at DuSable Museum, August 4 - October 31
DePaul University Associate Professor Heidi J. Nast’s vivid collection of color photos of the Kano Palace of northern Nigeria will be exhibited at the DuSable Museum of African-American History, 740 E. 56th Pl., (57th Street and Cottage Grove Avenue), in Chicago, from Aug. 4 – Oct. 31.
Nast’s photography represents a rare opportunity to glimpse what remains of a formidable African palace built in the 16th century in Kano City, which was one of the most important cities on the continent of Africa at that time. The photographic exhibition sheds light on various aspects of centuries-old African-Islamic state practices through visual examination of the connections that remain today.
The urban form of the West African city of Kano was re-organized in the 16th century by North African Islamic scholars to resemble North African towns, circa 1500. The Kano Palace was built near a new market and mosque. The palace accommodated massive numbers of concubines and eunuchs, as was typical of many Islamic sultanate cultures of the time. Hundreds of concubines captured in war lived within the palace’s massive secluded interior.
The exhibition, entitled “Disrupting Perceptions: A Photographic History of the Kano Palace, Nigeria,” uses the photographs as “samples” or “nodes” of life within the present day palace, where more than 1,000 people still live. “By thinking ‘nodally,’” explains Nast, “we are encouraged to think in more complicated ways. What we see is not what we get. Many aspects of history are hidden in objects, requiring that we study and scratch below their visual surface. Disrupting perceptions is about learning how to see things as more than what meets the eye.”
Nast, who teaches in the international studies department at DePaul, has spent 15 years researching her topic. She said that she hopes her work helps to disrupt popular notions of sub-Sahara Africa as a solely rural place, devoid of urban political culture.
The exhibition was created in collaboration with His Highness Alhaji Ado Bayero, the traditional ruler of the historic city-state of Kano. The exhibition is sponsored by the DePaul University Humanities Center, the President’s Office of DePaul, as well as programs and departments within the university’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
DuSable Museum is one of the oldest institutions of its kind in the country dedicated to the collection, preservation, interpretation and dissemination of African-American history and culture. It is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.; and Sundays and holidays from noon until 5 p.m. General admission is $3; admission for seniors and students is $2; children are admitted for $1; and children under six are admitted free of charge. Sunday is free admission day at the museum.For more information about “Disrupting Perceptions: A Photographic History of the Kano Palace, Nigeria” contact Maria Astudillo at 773/865-6093.