Carlos Museum opens 'African Cosmos' from Smithsonian on Saturday

Female figures from the Yoruba people of Nigeria (early to mid-20th century) are included in the Carlos Museum exhibit "African Cosmos: Stellar Arts," opening Saturday.

Credit: hpousner

Credit: hpousner

Female figures from the Yoruba people of Nigeria (early to mid-20th century) are included in the Carlos Museum exhibit "African Cosmos: Stellar Arts," opening Saturday.
Female figures from the Yoruba people of Nigeria (early to mid-20th century) are included in the Carlos Museum exhibit "African Cosmos: Stellar Arts," opening Saturday.

Credit: hpousner

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Credit: hpousner

Emory University’s Michael C. Carlos Museum opens “African Cosmos: Stellar Arts,” a major exhibit organized by the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African Art, on Jan. 31.

Featuring more than 70 works of art from throughout the African continent, the exhibit explores how the sun, moon, stars and celestial phenomena such as lightning and rainbows have served as sources of inspiration in the creation of African art from ancient times to the present. (Through June 21.)

“African Cosmos" curator Christine Mullen Kreamer, deputy director and chief curator at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African Art, will give an illustrated lecture at 7:30 Feb. 3 in the museum's Reception Hall, Level Three. She will discuss the historical legacy of African cultural astronomy and its intersection with both traditional and contemporary African arts.

Also on view at the Carlos: “Creating Matter: The Prints of Mildred Thompson,” showing the late Atlanta artist’s interest in the cosmos and the creation of the world. (Through May 17.)

$8, $6 students, ages 6-17 and seniors. 571 S. Kilgo Circle, Atlanta. 404-727-4282, www.carlos.emory.edu.