ST. LOUIS, MO.- Pulitzer Arts Foundation is presenting an exhibition that explores innovative uses of new technology to foster a deeper understanding of art history. Kota: Digital Excavations in African Art features a curated selection of nearly fifty Central African reliquary sculptures and new, interactive digital tools to identify patterns and groupings among these objects. A high-tech, immersive digital experience anchors the exhibition, visualizing an extensive database of Kota reliquaries developed by Belgian computer engineer and independent researcher Frederic Cloth. The installation, titled Kota Data Cloud, is the first tool to animate this body of research for the public and was created by software and game development studio Rampant Interactive specifically for this exhibition. Co-curated by Cloth and Kristina Van Dyke, a specialist in African art and the former director of the Pulitzer, Kota is the first museum show to focus exclusively on the Kota reliquaries and their history, presenting an in-depth look at these objects while exploring the role of technology in the study and appreciation of art.
Kota reliquaries, which were produced between the 17th and 20th centuries in what is now Gabon and the Republic of Congo, protected deceased ancestors whose remains were bundled in baskets to which the sculptures were affixed. Embodying local spirits whose protection was necessary for the survival and success of a village, these works depict the abstracted human form and range in size from eight to thirty inches. Kota are unique among African sculpture for their incorporation of worked brass and copper over carved wood. As missionary efforts and colonialism swept through central Africa in the 1930s, much of the oral history and tradition relating to Kota was lost, and while many figures remain in collections today, few details are known about the objects’ specific provenances and uses.
Through the digital experience of the Kota Data Cloud, the exhibition at the Pulitzer visualizes the process being undertaken by the curators to reconstruct the history of Kota reliquaries through a close observation of the objects themselves. In the months leading up to the opening of the exhibition, Rampant Interactive, a team of software and game developers in St. Louis, were granted full access to Cloth’s database of more than 2,000 extant guardian figures and the series of algorithms he developed to identify patterns among them. The patterns suggest stylistic chronologies, indicate the existence of artist workshops, and begin to shed new light on these objects’ creation, significance, and uses. The Kota Data Cloud animates this information through a touchscreen and immersive projection on the gallery walls to visualize the data, focusing on physical characteristics of the Kota objects. The digital experience invites viewers to map their own groupings of the objects while encouraging visual exploration and play. Visitors will be able to explore the similarities and differences among the Kota figures in the database and recognize the figures in the exhibition’s curated groups.
“The Pulitzer aims to present viewers with arts experiences that expand their perspective on the world and invite an opportunity for a deeper exploration of the objects on view and ideas at play in our exhibitions,” said the Pulitzer’s director, Cara Starke. “Kota illuminates the history of Central African reliquaries while addressing an information gap created by social and political conditions that eradicated the oral tradition associated with these sculptures. As the first museum exhibition to focus exclusively on the history of Kota reliquaries, the exhibition offers a unique opportunity to view these objects and experiment with the ways in which digital tools can expand the study of their history.”
“Kota offers an exciting opportunity to experience the ways in which digital tools are enhancing the study of culture, in particular those cultures, traditions, and histories that have been considered lost,” said Van Dyke. “The exhibition will allow audiences unprecedented access to research on the reliquaries, providing a chance to engage directly with both the objects and the technology, and encouraging more intimate and active looking.”
The upper-level galleries feature Rampant’s digital experience, drawings created by Cloth to study specific physical characteristics of the objects, and a wide range of Kota reliquaries that invite unmediated, engaged viewing. As visitors move to the lower-level galleries, they have the opportunity to view more distinct groupings of Kota that represent the evolution of the sculptural tradition across Central African cultures, geographies, and generations, underscoring the relationships between objects discovered through Cloth’s database.
“This exhibition will bring my research to a new audience, encouraging a deeper appreciation and study of the works. Rediscovering the histories of these objects requires both active looking and the exploration of digital tools; it’s an exciting moment to offer visitors the opportunity to engage on both levels,” said Cloth. “I am thrilled to be able to share my life’s passion with the Pulitzer’s visitors and to shine a new light on this compelling field.”
In addition to designing the immersive experience with the database, Rampant is participating in a five-month-long residency that transforms one of the Pulitzer’s lower-level galleries into an audience-responsive design studio. Dubbed the Kota ProtoLab, Rampant staff are present on select days to lead workshops as part of a crowdsourced creative initiative that will evolve over the course of the exhibition. Through the workshop series, Rampant will work with visitors to build digital models of Kota reliquaries and 3D print these objects. Throughout the residency, Rampant will engage visitors to further investigate the possibilities for the digital models based on audience feedback, fostering a deeper examination of Kota reliquaries, their component parts, and the groupings among them.
Rampant’s residency continues the Pulitzer’s vision to engage a wide range of collaborators in ways that have a meaningful impact on the audience experience, and is made possible by the institution’s expansion of its public spaces.
“We have been experimenting with our collaborators over the last several years at the Pulitzer to present a range of short-term interventions like PXSTL and Reset, and now the Kota ProtoLab. These projects bring a new dimension to our program and create an exciting dynamic between us, our collaborators, and our visitors. We continue to look at on-site activity as both a short-term and long-term possibility, expanding on our mission to present unexpected and engaging art experiences—some that may be easily associated with a museum and some more unexpected,” said Kristin Fleischmann Brewer, Manager of Programs. “Our new spaces have really opened up what we can do in terms of audience engagement.”
