Belongings: Changing Hands and Shifting Meanings in African Arts

November 16, 2025 – Summer, 2026

As it moves from communities in Africa to Los Angeles, a historical object’s path is rarely simple. Before coming to reside in a museum collection, works may pass through several hands, take on many meanings, and bear witness to historical moments large and small. In the past, the Fowler has frequently focused on the original intent of an object, on how the maker crafted it to be used. Yet works contain many more stories beyond those that mark their starting point.

This exhibition shifts the focus from function to other, lesser-known stories layered within each object. To do so, it draws on the dual meaning of “belongings”—as both possessions and senses of affinity, kinship, or identity. Organized in four sections, the exhibition highlights key moments of transition for these objects: from their early owners in Africa, to colonial-era buyers, to movement through the secondary market in Europe, to eventual arrival at the Fowler Museum.

To further honor the complex narratives embedded within each work, additional exhibition resources provide visitors with the option to draw upon other perspectives. By focusing on objects at different points in their trajectory from creation to arrival at the Fowler, and allowing viewpoints from various disciplines to inform our understanding, this exhibition seeks to underscore that no museum label should be considered as a singular truth. Every object contains multitudes, its meaning is transient, and more voices can be found if you invite them in.

PRESS RELEASE: Belongings: Changing Hands and Shifting Meanings in African Arts

Image credit: Unidentified artist(s); Tsesah, late 19th century; Bamileke style, Cameroon; wood, paint, plant fiber, plant gum; Fowler Museum at UCLA, X65.5820; Gift of the Wellcome Trust.