Barbara Blackmun Collection, EEPA 2016-012 Eden Orelove October 2018 Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art National Museum of African Art P.O. Box 37012 MRC 708 Washington, DC 20013-7012 [email protected] http://africa.si.edu/collection/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/ Table of Contents Collection Overview ........................................................................................................ 1 Administrative Information .............................................................................................. 1 Biographical / Historical.................................................................................................... 1 Arrangement..................................................................................................................... 2 Scope and Contents........................................................................................................ 2 Names and Subjects ...................................................................................................... 2 Container Listing ............................................................................................................. 4 Series 1: Museum Objects, 1979-1994.................................................................... 4 Series 2: People, circa 1969-1994......................................................................... 71 Series 3: Ceremonies and Festivals, circa 1969-1994........................................... 89 Series 4: Landscape and Street Scenes, Nigeria, circa 1969-1994..................... 120 Barbara Blackmun Collection EEPA.2016-012 Collection Overview Repository: Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art Title: Barbara Blackmun Collection Identifier: EEPA.2016-012 Date: circa 1969-1994 Creator: Blackmun, Barbara Winston (Photographer) Extent: 1,469 Color slides Language: English . Summary: The collection includes 1,469 color slides (35mm) which were taken in Nigeria from circa 1964-1994, and focus on ancestral altars; artists; art objects in museums, including bronze plaques and carved ivory tusks; ceremonies and festivals, including the Igue and Ewere Festivals, and the Emobo, Otue, Olokun, title-taking, and Blackmun's initation ceremonies; and people, including Oba Erediauwa and chiefs Eribo, Ero, Esogban, Ezomo, Ohanmu and Osaigeide; and street and landscape scenes in Benin City, Ife, Lagos, Ishiago, and Mbarri, Owerri, Owo, among other locations in Nigeria. Administrative Information Acquisition Information Donated by Monica Blackmun Visona, 2016. Processing Information Digitized in 2017. Finding aid by Eden Orelove, 2018. Preferred Citation Barbara Blackmun Collection, EEPA 2016-012, Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution. Restrictions Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details. Items 1234-1256 restricted. Available to view onsite only. Conditions Governing Use Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws. Biographical / Historical African art historian Barbara Winston Blackmun (1928-) is a specialist in Nigerian antiquities, particularly Nok terracottas, the bronzes of Ile Ife, and the bronzes and ivories of the Kingdom of Benin in Nigeria. She Page 1 of 132 Barbara Blackmun Collection EEPA.2016-012 earned her BFA at UCLA (1949), MA at Arizona State University (1971), and Doctor of Philosophy in Art History at UCLA (1984). Over her career, Blackmun's research has included fieldwork in Malawi (1964-1969) and research of Ife antiquities with Frank Willett (1978-79) and various collections on Benin antiquities in the U.K., U.S., Europe, and Africa (1980-present). Recipient of a Fulbright (1981-1982) and a National Endowment for the Humanities grant (1994), she conducted field work at the Oba's court in Benin City, Nigeria. Additionally, she has published numerous exhibition catalogs and articles in journals such as African Arts. Blackmun taught art history at the Malawi Polytechnic College, Blantyre, (1965—1969), San Diego Mesa College (at which she is Professor Emeritus) (1971—2010), University of California, San Diego (1987, 2008, 2004), and UCLA (1987, 2000), among other places. She also curated and acted as a curatorial consultant of African art collections at numerous institutions, including Mesa College, the San Diego Museum of Art (2010), Chicago Field Museum (1990—1993), Chicago Art Institute (1994, 2006—2008), Detroit Institute of Art (2002—2010), Museum fuer Voelkerkunde, Vienna (2003—2008), and the Ethnologisches Museum, Berlin (2003—2008). Her committee work includes serving as National Program Director for the African American Institute, Malawi (1968—1969), a member of the Education Council, Contemporary Arts Committee, San Diego Museum of Art (1975—1978), a board member of the San Diego Mesa College Foundation (1983-) and the African and African-American Studies Research Center, University of California, San Diego, and Chair of the African Arts Council, San Diego Museum of Art. Scope and Contents The collection includes 1,469 color slides (35mm) which were taken in circa 1969 to 1994, and focus on African art objects, prominent people, especially chiefs, festivals and ceremonies, and landscape and street scenes in Nigeria, including Benin City, Ife, Ishiago, Jeronimos, Lagos, Mbari, Oshagbe, Owerri, Owo, Oyo, and Udu. Many of the images are of art objects in museums, particularly in the Jos Museum, the Owo Museum, the Benin Museum, the Lagos Museum, the Ife Palace Museum, and the University of Ife Museum. The objects include altar stands, armlets, bells, bowls, boxes, bracelets, figures, Oko (flutes), ivory gongs, Ikengobos, masks, motif drawings, pendants, plaques, regalia, salt cellars, staffs, stools, and carved ivory tusks. People depicted include the Oba Erediauwa, and the chiefs Eribo, Ero, Esogban, Ezomo, Ohanmu and Osaigeide. The collection also documents ceremonies and festivals, including the Igue and Ewere Festivals, and the Emobo, Otue, and Olokun ceremonies as well as Ineh Isienmwenro's title-taking, and Blackmun's initation. Arrangement Arranged into 4 series: • Series 1: Museum Objects (747 slides), 1979-1994 • Series 2: Ceremonies (227 slides), circa 1969-1994 • Series 3: People (354 slides), circa 1969-1994 • Series 4: Landscape and Street Scenes (141 slides), circa 1969-1994 Names and Subject Terms This collection is indexed in the online catalog of the Smithsonian Institution under the following terms: Page 2 of 132 Barbara Blackmun Collection EEPA.2016-012 Subjects: Altars Art, African Edo (African people) Egúngún (Cult) Rites and ceremonies -- Africa Yoruba (African people) Cultures: Edo (African people) Types of Materials: Color slides Names: Erediauwa, King of Benin, 1923-2016 Places: Africa Benin Ife (Nigeria) Nigeria Page 3 of 132 Series 1: Museum Objects Barbara Blackmun Collection EEPA.2016-012 Container Listing Series 1: Museum Objects, 1979-1994 747 Slides Scope and The series is comprised of images African art objects located in museums, including in Contents: the Benin Museum, Lagos Museum, Owo Museum, Jos Museum, and the University of Ife Museum, among others. The objects include altar stands, armlets, bells, bowls, boxes, bracelets, figures, Oko (flutes), ivory gongs, Ikengobos, masks, motif drawings, pendants, plaques, regalia, salt cellars, staffs, stools, and carved ivory tusks. Arrangement: Arranged alphabetically by type of object. Topic: Art, African Place: Igbo-Ukwu (Nigeria) Lagos (Nigeria) Benin Owo (Ondo State, Nigeria) Ife (Nigeria) Culture: Yoruba (African people) Altar Stands, Nigeria, circa 1981-1994 Topic: Art, African EEPA 2016-012-0001: Igbo-Ukwu Altar Stands, Nigeria, circa 1981-1994 1 Slide Photographer: Blackmun, Barbara Winston Topic: Art, African EEPA 2016-012-0002: Igbo-Ukwu Altar Stands, Nigeria, circa 1981-1994 1 Slide Topic: Art, African EEPA 2016-012-0003: Igbo-Ukwu Altar Stands, Nigeria, circa 1981-1994 1 Slide Topic: Art, African EEPA 2016-012-0004: Igbo-Ukwu Altar Stands, Nigeria, circa 1981-1994 1 Slide Topic: Art, African EEPA 2016-012-0005: Igbo-Ukwu Altar Stands, Nigeria, circa 1981-1994 1 Slide Topic: Art, African EEPA 2016-012-0006: Igbo-Ukwu Altar Stands, Nigeria, circa 1981-1994 1 Slide Topic: Art, African EEPA 2016-012-0007: Igbo-Ukwu Altar Stands, Nigeria, circa 1981-1994 1 Slide Page 4 of 132 Series 1: Museum Objects Barbara Blackmun Collection EEPA.2016-012 Topic: Art, African EEPA 2016-012-0008: Igbo-Ukwu Altar Stands, Nigeria, circa 1981-1994 1 Slide Topic: Art, African EEPA 2016-012-0009: Igbo-Ukwu Altar Stands, Nigeria, circa 1981-1994 1 Slide Topic: Art, African EEPA 2016-012-0010: Igbo-Ukwu Altar Stands, Nigeria, circa 1981-1994 1 Slide Topic: Art, African EEPA 2016-012-0011: Igbo-Ukwu Altar Stands, Nigeria, circa 1981-1994 1 Slide Topic: Art, African EEPA 2016-012-0012: Igbo-Ukwu Altar Stands, Nigeria, circa 1981-1994 1 Slide Topic: Art, African EEPA 2016-012-0013: Igbo-Ukwu Altar Stands, Nigeria, circa 1981-1994 1 Slide Topic: Art, African EEPA 2016-012-0014: Igbo-Ukwu Altar Stands, Nigeria, circa 1981-1994 1 Slide Topic: Art, African EEPA 2016-012-0015: Igbo-Ukwu Altar Stands, Nigeria, circa 1981-1994 1 Slide Topic: Art, African EEPA 2016-012-0016: Igbo-Ukwu Altar Stands, Nigeria, circa 1981-1994 1 Slide Topic: Art, African EEPA 2016-012-0017: Igbo-Ukwu Altar Stands, Nigeria, circa