A collection of objects from central Congo, gathered by an American aid worker in the 1920s and donated to IU in the 1980s, includes a sizeable number of amulets and divination tools. While the IUMAA has classified it (appropriately) as “medical anthropology,” amulets are also items of dress. As a fashion historian with expertise in African Studies, Heather Akou is interested in historic items of African dress in Western collections, which are almost never classified as “fashion.” This discussion will explore how amulets looked and functioned in Tetela culture in the 1920s and speculate on what may (or may not) have changed over the last century.
Heather Akou is an associate professor in the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design and a core member of the MA in Curatorship program.) Visit here for more information about Heather Akou.
For more information about the Coffee and Curators talks, contact iumaa@indiana.edu.