BIRMINGHAM.- The Birmingham Museum of Art is pleased to announce that the Bareiss family of Greenwich, Connecticut is placing its stunning collection of African art on long-term loan at the Museum. The collection of more than three hundred objects is comprised primarily of work from central, eastern, and southern Africa dating from the eighteenth to early twentieth centuries. To celebrate the loan, the museum has organized an exhibition titled Highlights from The Walter and Molly Bareiss Collection of African Art featuring 35 works from the collection, which will be installed in the Jemison Gallery from June 19th to July 31st. Among the powerfully expressive objects in the exhibition are marionettes (nearly seven feet tall), ancestor figures, initiation masks, divination objects, thrones, and staffs. The objects come from many countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Angola, Malawi, and Tanzania.

American businessman and art collector Walter Bareiss, now in his 80s, first became interested in African art in 1948. Ren� d'Harnoncourt's then the director of Museum of Modern Art in New York, asked Bareiss to attend an auction in Stuttgart to purchase African Art on behalf of the museum. Already a collector of modern art, Bareiss was aware of African art as a source for developments in European modernism, and was determined to learn more. He studied African art for the next twenty years, coming to appreciate it in its own right and championing its place among the greatest artistic traditions of the world. He and his wife Molly began collecting African art in the 1970s, and continued collecting for 20 years. Their collection has been exhibited in both Europe and the United States. In later years, Bareiss served as interim director for the Museum of Modern Art.

Emily G. Hanna, Ph.D., Birmingham Museum of Art Curator of Arts of Africa and the Americas, believes that stewardship of this outstanding and unique collection of African art is a privilege. �Because of the Bareiss family's focus on collecting from the central, eastern, and southern regions of Africa, our visitors will have the pleasure of viewing objects of power and beauty rarely exhibited in U.S. and even European museums,� says Hanna. "We are particularly excited about working with the Bareiss family and their stated goal of creating a broader understanding and appreciation of the arts of Africa. It is important to all of us to see this material within its specific context, but to also appreciate the individual objects as extraordinary works of art."

The BMA will develop thematic traveling exhibitions from the Bareiss collection, and the Education department plans teacher training programs, a website educational component, and special programming and publications developed jointly with the Curatorial department to maximize public interaction and understanding of this outstanding collection of art work.

�On rare occasions, museums are given the opportunity to act as caretakers of a collection from the private sector which benefits our varied audiences,� says Gail Trechsel, R. Hugh Daniel Director of the Birmingham Museum of Art. Trechsel believes that this loan not only extends the museum's ability to interpret the art and culture of Africa but also provides visitors the experience of seeing works of art of extraordinary quality and visual impact. �As an institution, we want to revive the pleasure, the discovery that comes from the fundamental act of looking,� she explains. �Thoughtful �looking� brings us closer to understanding the beauty and importance of these works of art, which is sometimes a challenge for western eyes.�