African Art in the Life Cycle, the new exhibition in Cal State Northridge's Art Galleries, opens Monday, Jan. 31. The show was put together by a team of Cal State Northridge undergraduate and graduate art students, who spent several months working on it.

"The efforts in partnerships and collaboration that went to make this happen have been outstanding," said Monica Duke, a senior majoring in art history who served as one of five project curators and designer of the installation. "We all worked hand in hand to come up with a stellar design that will maximize the information for the show. We had some fine hands and minds working on this project and we are all greatly anticipating this exhibition with a measure of pride."

Duke said she and her fellow students hope that by placing the art pieces in context, they have given visitors not only a small understanding of each piece, but a greater appreciation for African arts and cultures as a whole.

"Oftentimes viewers are able to appreciate the formal qualities of an artwork while viewing them in either a gallery or a museum," she said. "This exhibition breaks out of the norm by providing the viewer with an aesthetic taste of the rich cultural heritage of Africa. I hope that people will walk away from our exhibition emotionally and spiritually moved, as well as intellectually stimulated."

The exhibition, which runs through April 9 in the galleries located at the north end of the campus off Plummer Street, includes more than 200 objects from 14 African nations, used to define key moments in the African life cycle.

Objects in the show come from a variety of sources including the University Foundation Collection, collections of the California African American Museum and private lenders. The pieces represent such African nations as Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa and Sudan.

Among the items are Ethiopian clay dolls molded from corncobs and raffia cars from Malawi that focus on childhood play. Also included are Sowei masks and beads from Sierra Leone that are part of a young woman's adolescent initiation ceremony. Asante fertility figures from Ghana and Dan spoons from Cote d'Ivoire make clear references to marriage and parenthood, while Giryama mortuary poles from Kenya memorialize the dead.

CSUN professor Peri Klemm, a historian of African art who supervised and curated the project, said the exhibition provides a unique opportunity for Los Angeles and San Fernando Valley residents to view African art.

"Most museums and galleries specializing in non-Western art in the area tend to emphasize the formal qualities in their collections without providing contextual information about their collections," said Klemm, who has curated shows on African art in Ghana, Ethiopia and the United States. "At CSUN, visitors will be able to learn about African art within the context of the life cycle, an important means through which people organize their lives in Africa."

"The objects exhibited, which range from objects used in play, ritual and everyday life, intentionally blur the distinctions between high art and utilitarian object. The categorizing and valuing of African objects by materials, use, and age has been a Western preoccupation that we hope not to duplicate," she said. "Instead, we hope to show visitors an array of beautifully crafted and creative forms that are meaningful in the lives of specific African societies today."

Klemm will give a gallery lecture on the exhibition at 9 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 7. She and religious studies professor Mutmbo Nkulu-N'sengha will hold a panel discussion, "In and Out of Context: African Art in Africa vs. African Art in the Museum," at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, March 8.