Name: Guided Gallery Visit - Central African Art: Invocation of an Unseen World
Start: 2025-09-20T11:00:00+08:00
End: 2025-09-20T12:30:00+08:00
Location: City University of Hong Kong 香港城市大學

Guided Gallery Visit - Central African Art: Invocation of an Unseen World

RGS-HK is delighted to offer an exhibition tour of “Central African art: Invocation of an Unseen World”.
Sub-Saharan Central Africa is a vibrant and diverse land. Its typography ranges from lush rainforest to vast tropical grassland, breathtaking equatorial snow-capped mountains, and expansive lakes. The artistic traditions of Central Africa reflect this environmental richness and diversity. To navigate through this varied geographical environment and social landscape, the exhibition divides Central Africa into six zones, including West Central Africa and the Great Lakes Region.
Presenting nearly 200 Central African artworks and aided by new media, this exhibition is a journey into the forgotten world of Central African arts. The objects date mainly from 19th to early 20th century, a period when most communities still maintained their independence, cultural identity, and artistic traditions. Embedded within these societies’ social fabric and ritual life, the exhibited pieces were not merely beautiful objects, but also possessed a clear function.
The greatest artistic attention was lavished on sculptures, masks and weapons - the three treasures of Central African art - reflecting their dominant roles in society. Masks served as intermediaries between the invisible world of spirits and abstract ideals. Prestige weapons were the ultimate tools of social action, embodying sacred authority passed down from ancestors while enforcing political rule and maintaining social cohesion.
Taken together, the sculptures, masks, and weapons represent the three key channels through which individuals and communities could connect with invisible, spiritual forces. These objects invoke the collective memories of Central Africa and reveal the rich artistic legacy of these diverse cultures.