IN Africa, storytelling is not just a cultural pastime—it’s a living tradition, a tool of education, memory, and identity. Stories are passed through generations via songs, symbols, spoken word, dance, and, of course, art. But what happens when these stories leave the village square and enter museum walls? Who decides how they are told?
That’s where the curator comes in—not as a gatekeeper, but as a narrator. A guide. A bridge between artist, object, and audience.
In today’s art world, curators of African art carry immense responsibility. They don’t simply select beautiful pieces to hang on walls. They curate experiences. They build emotional journeys through centuries of cultural expression. And they do it while navigating complex legacies—colonial histories, displaced artefacts, global influences, and the urgent need to centre African voices in African art.
Every item in a gallery tells a story. However, it is the curator who decides how that story is told, whose voice leads, and what narrative thread connects each piece to the next. From choosing powerful themes to highlighting oral traditions and reframing historical objects, curators play a vital role in preserving and presenting the African experience.
In this digest, we explore five key ways curators act as storytellers. These include how they shape narrative arcs, use oral traditions, centre African voices, organise exhibitions thematically, and invite viewers into critical reflection. Through these methods, they transform static displays into living conversations. Let’s dive in.
Curators act like writers. They pick artworks to tell a coherent story. At St. Louis Art Museum’s Narrative Wisdom, the curator Nichole Bridges placed a carved Chokwe chair near an intricately carved tusk. One speaks of leadership. The other shows trade and colonial impacts. Together, they build a visual dialogue.
Migration has long been central to African diasporic art. Jacob Lawrence’s iconic Migration Series tells the story of the Black movement in America. Using flat shapes and bold colours, he chronicled African Americans’ journey from the South to Northern cities.
African art is deeply connected to oral storytelling. Curators often honour this tradition by adding audio guides, chants, poems, or interviews to exhibitions. At the Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM) in Missouri, the Narrative Wisdom exhibition paired African artworks with recorded stories from griots (traditional storytellers) and community members. For example, a Mozambican throne made from decommissioned weapons carried a powerful message about war and resistance.
Curators structure exhibitions around themes. These act as chapters in a narrative. Fletcher’s exhibition organised artworks into themes like maps, migration, resistance, and rites of passage. This guide helps visitors follow complex histories more easily.
Thematic grouping helps objects converse. It deepens understanding without overwhelming. Each room builds on the previous one.
The best exhibitions spark conversation. Curators position artworks that provoke questions: Who made this? Why? What does it say? Curated spaces become places of thought and emotion. They don’t just show art—they invite introspection.
Curators are storytellers. They weave visuals and voices. They connect the past and the present. They honour memory and challenge assumptions.
Through art, they craft narratives that educate and inspire.
Museums become libraries of lived experience.
Objects speak truths.
Stories stay with us.
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*https://artindexafrica.substack.com/p/the-curator-as-storyteller-crafting?subscribe_prompt=free