With the perspective reached after fifty years (yes!) working with museum collections of art from Africa, I see a critical juncture now for “African art”—the famed historic sculpture tradition that forms the canonical core—both as an idea and as material objects present in the American art world. In museums especially, “African art” is now being fundamentally redefined by people outside the field while at the same time it is fading from view. The situation in academia is quite different, but in American museums, activity peaked around 1990, then gradually declined during the 2000s, before rapidly losing steam in recent years, even though contemporary African artists are now a regular part of the international art world. Africa's historic art enjoyed almost fifty years of admiring press coverage, special exhibitions, permanent installations, auctions, acquisitions, and a steady stream of substantial publications. After this long run in the spotlight, it is probably now...

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