Africa Past, Present, and Future: Celebrating 65 Years of the MSU African Studies Center

About the Exhibition

How does learning from cultures different from our own shift our perspectives and understanding of the world?

Africa Past, Present, and Future: Celebrating 65 Years of the MSU African Studies Center marks this major anniversary year while also forwarding important questions about the role of collections and object-based learning to expand our knowledge and understanding of the world around us—and our place therein.

In 2025, the MSU African Studies Center (ASC) celebrates its 65th anniversary, a remarkable achievement with so many impactful years of service to the university community and across the African continent. Composed of works from the collections of the MSU Broad Art Museum and MSU Museum, the works on view present a wide range of African art and cultural objects that help narrate the relationship of MSU to Africa and its many countries, ethnic groups, and peoples.

The museums’ collections of African art grew in significance at the same time that MSU became more deeply involved with the founding of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka—a partnership forged between then-MSU president John Hannah and the Nigerian government. At this same moment, in 1960, Hannah initiated the formalization of the ASC, the second such organization to be inaugurated in the United States at that time.

Through this shared history and building upon the incredible work of the ASC today, this exhibition offers experiential opportunities for visitors to learn about the ASC’s captivating work and how university collections continue to advance teaching and learning about and from the many cultures of Africa—past, present, and future.

Africa Past, Present, and Future: Celebrating 65 Years of the MSU African Studies Center is organized by the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University and co-curated by Steven L. Bridges, senior curator and director of curatorial affairs at the MSU Broad Art Museum; Kurt Dewhurst, professor and curator at the MSU Museum, and director of arts and cultural partnerships at University Outreach & Engagement; Leo Zulu, director of the MSU African Studies Center; and Erik Ponder, African Studies Librarian; with additional curatorial advisors: Candace Keller, associate professor of art history and visual culture at MSU; Marsha MacDowell, professor and curator at the MSU Museum, and director of the Michigan Traditional Arts Program; Ray Silverman, former professor of art history and visual culture, curator of African Arts, and director of museum studies at MSU; Lynne Swanson, cultural collections manager at the MSU Museum; and Chris Worland, textile artist and former guest curator at the MSU Museum. Support for this series is provided by the MSU Federal Credit Union. This exhibition is the result of a partnership between the MSU African Studies Center, International Studies and Programs; MSU Broad Art Museum; MSU Museum; and MSU Libraries.