Ways of the Rivers: Art and Environment of the Niger Delta, which was declared the best exhibition of 2002 by the Los Angeles Times, was really Doran Ross's project from the beginning. When he first proposed an exhibition of Niger Delta art to Phil in 1988, Phil felt the idea, at the time, was too overwhelming for him, given its scope and his other responsibilities. Several years later, after Martha and Phil had begun networking with a group of scholars who had conducted research on the region, the project seemed far more feasible. We began to forge ahead with our plans in 1995.
Doran's vision proved to be one of the first major exhibitions that would focus on a single region of Africa, not simply one ethnic group, with the goal of highlighting cultural similarities and differences reflected in the arts of people living in such a distinct...