The Palmer Museum of Art at Penn State is hosting the exhibition 'Insistent Presence: Contemporary African Art from the Chazen Collection,' featuring 40 works by 22 living artists from across Africa and its diaspora. The show, organized into three thematic sections exploring the presence and absence of the human body, opened on February 7 and includes sculpture, painting, ceramics, printmaking, and photography.
This exhibition matters because it provides vital access to contemporary African art for a university and regional community, foregrounding diverse African perspectives on identity, decolonization, and social realities. Guest curator Margaret Nagawa notes the works offer insight into social, political, and religious contexts, allowing viewers to consider the body's role in colonialism, humanism, and modernity through the lens of artists reclaiming their narratives.