Oyer’s ‘African Arts’ exhibit engages viewers with instructive art and music

GOSHEN, Ind. – Goshen College Professor Emerita of Music Mary K. Oyer’s world of art widened after spending years in Africa during which she immersed herself in the history and practice of African music and hymnody. Her cross-cultural experiences transformed the classically trained Mennonite musician into an explorer and teacher of world music and its influences on Western music.

Now Oyer’s diverse collection of traditional African instruments, artifacts and fabrics will be on display in the college’s Good Library Gallery in an “African Arts” exhibit from Jan. 16 to Feb. 22, with an opening reception Sunday, Jan. 20 from 2-4 p.m. which the public is invited to attend. The exhibit is a portal into the influences that triggered the fusion of Oyer’s Western musical knowledge with characteristics of African music.

Presented alongside these traditional objects are annotations and background information gathered during Oyer’s long and dynamic career as teacher, hymnologist, church musician and African music specialist.

Oyer developed a proficiency with African musical traditions as a result of her years of study in as many as 22 African countries. She has been a visiting professor at both Kenyatta University in Kenya and at Tainan Theological College and Seminary in Taiwan. 

According to the exhibit coordinator and Director of the Good Library Lisa Guedea Carreño, who had Oyer as a music professor during a fraction of the 40 years Oyer was at the college, “The most notable thing I learned from Mary Oyer is that the best teachers are those who never stop learning.

“Mary studied and analyzed music that had never been written down because it had always been taught and learned by ear,” said Guedea Carreño. “She learned to play instruments unlike anything she had ever seen or heard before. And she came back and enriched the education of several generations of Goshen College students, not to mention Mennonite hymnody and musical scholarship in general, with a deeper understanding of what it means to ‘make a joyful noise unto the Lord.’”

To correlate with Oyer’s teaching history, the exhibit’s planning committee, including Guedea Carreño, Oyer and art students Melanie Antram and Lauren Eldredge, designed the exhibit in a way that focuses on utility and educational value by including pieces that are interactive. 

“African Arts” touches on different aspects of African life in displays of textiles, beadwork, sculptures, drums, shakers and thumb instruments. Each of the items, said Guedea Carreño, is a lens through which we can view and learn something about the history, culture, religion, politics, commerce or daily life in a particular region or country in Africa.  

The exhibit will not only be colorful but it will encompass a variety of fields and experiences within the scores of African cultures. Oyer includes annotations that explain the processes and materials used in making certain pieces as a way to help the viewers understand and appreciate the craft and skill involved in their creation.

According to Guedea Carreño, they hope to include audio recordings of African instruments to contribute to the educational nature of the exhibit. “African Arts” will also provide certain authentic African instruments for exhibit goers to try out for themselves.

The fabric selections for “African Arts” include cloths exclusive to particular countries and peoples in Africa that are distinguishable through their different textures, colors, shapes and symbols. Bark cloth, from Uganda, is made by pounding out designs from the inner sheath of a tree. Okene cloth, from Nigeria, is women’s weave with embroidery and geometric motifs from all facets of life on one side of the cloth. Distinctions will be made between men’s and women’s weaving as well as handcrafted pieces versus manufactured pieces. 

“African Arts” is sponsored by the Goshen College Art Department, the Multicultural Affairs Office, the Music Center, the Music Department, the Mennonite Historical Library and the Harold and Wilma Good Library.

For more information contact Lisa Guedea Carreño, phone (574) 535-7425, e-mail lisagc@goshen.edu.

– By Emily Dougherty

Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” “Making a Difference College Guide” and U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit www.goshen.edu.