BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA.- The Birmingham Museum of Art (BMA) is pleased to present the first Museum showing of Transformed By Fire: African Ceramics and Iron Art from the Mortimer B. and Sue Fuller Collection. The exhibition highlights more than forty fascinating works of art from West African culture dating from the 19th to 20th centuries and will be on view through December 12, 2004.

Transformed by Fire represents a sampling of an important collection of West African ceramics and iron art amassed by Mortimer B. and Sue Fuller of New York. The collection, 258 pieces in its entirety, is a promised gift to the BMA. Works include ceramic vessels, musical instruments, currency objects, jewelry, sculpted figures, tools and ritual vessels primarily from the countries of Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Nigeria. The Fullers chose the BMA to receive this collection because of the prominent role of iron in Birmingham’s history.

Iron is an extremely important material and medium in West African culture. It is valued not only for its practical use in the fabrication of essential tools, weapons and currency, but also for its spiritual potency. Objects made from iron play important roles in rites of passage, healing rituals, divination, governance, religious practice, and conflict mediation. Many myths and legends recount the importance of the forge and the blacksmith in African society.

Throughout West Africa, blacksmiths are born into their occupations specialty, and may only marry women from other blacksmith families. While the men smelt and forge iron, the women specialize in ceramics, creating vessels and ritual objects. Among many groups, it is understood that the specialized occupational knowledge guarded by these men and women was originally imparted by a divine source, usually as part of a sacred covenant.

An example of these sacred works includes iron serpents (illustrated at right), which were used by the Lobi people, who consider serpents as messengers from the world of spirits and ancestors. Serpent figures are frequently found on shrines, together with ceramic pots that hold a variety of medicines used to heal family members.

Transformed By Fire was organized and curated by Emily Hanna, Ph.D., curator of the art of Africa and the Americas at the BMA and is generously supported by the BMA Corporate Partners. A full color catalogue of the exhibition will be available in the Museum Store.