Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art

Henry John Drewal and Sarah K. Khan Collection

Summary

Collection ID:
EEPA.2019-017
Creators:
Drewal, Henry John
Dates:
1970-2011
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
2,288 Prints
37,682 Slides
35 mm
39 Notebooks
Field notebooks and calendars kept by Henry John Drewal
55 Electronic discs (DVD)
1 Manuscripts (document genre)
3 Boxes
554 Sound cassettes
8 boxes
236 Videocassettes (VHS)
187 Videocassettes (MiniDV)
3 Boxes
40 Film reels
(64) Super 8 tapes and (16) 16mm reels
241 Videocassettes (Hi8)
4 boxes
Repository:
Container:
EEPA.2019-017

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
This collection contains approximately 24,300 black and white photographic negatives and black/white and color prints (negatives and prints are collectively referred to as "Images"), field notebooks, and audio-visual material ("AV Material" including motion picture film, videotapes and audiotapes) produced by Henry John Drewal in West Africa (Benin, Ghana, Nigeria, Togo), Mexico, Brazil and the United States during the 1970s - 2010. There are several subjects present in this collection. The most prominent being the Egúngún and Gelede rituals and festivals of the Yoruba people of Nigeria. Other subjects found in the collection are Ifá initiation, Òrìsà and Mami Wata festivals, Òrìsà shrines, sacred arts, beading techniques, and traditional and modern architecture. There is a large selection of images specifically of shrines and festivals for Òrìsà such as Sango, Ògún, Agemo, Eyinle and others. Details of implements like the ose Sango, opa Osanyin, and opa Osun can also be seen in the collection.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Art historian Henry John Drewal received his BA from Hamilton College and two Masters' degrees and a PhD from Columbia University (1973). In between college and graduate school, Drewal served in the Peace Corps, where he taught French and English, organized arts camps in Nigeria, and apprenticed himself to a Yoruba sculptor. He taught at Cleveland State University (Chair of the Art Department), and was a Visiting Professor at UC-Santa Barbara and SUNY-Purchase. Since 1991 he has been the Evjue-Bascom Professor of Art History and Afro-American Studies at UW-Madison. He has published several books, edited volumes, exhibition catalogues, and many articles and produced a number of films documenting African and African Diaspora arts, and lectured widely on these topics. He has received several NEH and NEA grants, three Fulbright Research Awards (Brazil, Benin, Morocco), a Metropolitan Museum of Art Fellowship, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Dr. At present, Dr. Drewal is the Chair of the Department of Performance Studies at North Western University. There are also video productions by Henry John Drewal and Margaret Thompson Drewal available in the Warren M. Robbins Library. The videos available are "Ẹfẹ/Gẹlẹdẹ Ceremonies among the Western Yoruba," by Henry John Drewal; "Yoruba Performance," by Henry John Drewal; and "Yoruba Ritual: A Companion Video," by Margaret Thompson Drewal.

Administration

Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Henry John Drewal and Sarah K. Khan, 2019.

Using the Collection

Preferred Citation
Henry John Drewal and Sarah K. Khan Collection, EEPA 2019-017, Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is closed for processing. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Conditions Governing Use
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.

Related Materials
Related EEPA collections include: EEPA 2010-010, slides from Henry John Drewal's 1997 trip to Morocco and South Africa, and EEPA-1992-028, collected by Henry John Drewal and Margaret Drewal when they traveled to Nigeria, Ghana and Togo (West Africa) for extended periods from 1967-1986.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Benin Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Africa, West Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ghana Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Benin (Nigeria) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Togo Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Brazil Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art
National Museum of African Art
P.O. Box 37012
MRC 708
Washington, DC 20013-7012
elisofonarchives@si.edu