Africa Section in the Metropolitan Museum of Art

It is widely acknowledged that museum is one of the most significant places which make up a considerable proportion of the inheritance of culture. Consequently, it is of great significance to explore the exhibitions in various museums and galleries, for all the masterpieces there are precious memories of histories. One of the well-known museums is the Metropolitan Museum of Art which is the biggest art museum in America. There are about three million items on display in this museum, among which the arts of Africa occupy a necessary and essential part. Overall, the Africa section in the Met is worth exploring, because the collections there cover large areas, date to the old past and manifest different artistic forms.

In the first place, the Africa collections in Met are from various geographical regions including the western, central and southern Africa, and thus having high value to explore. Originally, there are not so many galleries that exhibit the items of African art, so the African things in Met turn out to be valuable. At the same time, the items there actually cover a lot of areas in Africa. For example, the Figure whose accession number 1883.159 in Met is a wooden sculpture, and it comes from Cameroon which is a country on western Africa (African Art Collections.). The art titled Scarab Inscribed with the Name of the God Amun-Re is from Egypt (African Art Collections.). Meanwhile, there are also a lot of exhibitions in the museum which are from other areas in Africa. In a word, the collections of the African art in Met cover a large proportion of the African land. As a result, the African exhibitions there are precious and multiple treasures of the African as well as the world culture.

The Africa section in Met Museum is worthy of being protected in that the African objects there cover an extended period of time. To be specific, the works in the Metropolitan Museum of Art can date from the 16^th century to the early 20^th century. For instance, the Fragment of a Bowl from Egypt dates to the 16^th century, the Screen from Egypt can date to the 18^th century, and the Bag from Cameroon can date to the 20^th century (African Art Collections.). In other words, the artistic works in the Met cover a long period and thus having high value.

In addition, there are various artistic forms of the collections in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In detail, the works there include sculptures, clothes, ornaments, staffs and so on, and they are made from stone, gold, silver, textiles, etc. As stated above, sculptures like the Figure, staffs like the Fragment of a Bowl, and also the Bag and many other collections are exhibited in the Met Museum. That is to say, there are abundant artistic items that are of different artistic forms, and thus making the museum a polybasic and rare one, especially when there are actually not that many museums or galleries that demonstrate the African arts.

Based on the above illustrations, it is quite apparent that the Metropolitan Museum of Art is a rare and valuable museum. To begin with, the geographical areas of the collections in the Metropolitan Museum of Art cover a lot. At the same time, the works cover an extended period from the 16^th century to the early 20^th century. Moreover, there are a lot of artistic forms in the Met museum. In an era of modernization, there are a lot of modern science and technologies. Meanwhile, the advancement of the society should not become the reason to ignore traditional culture. Therefore, it is of impact to respect the traditional culture and protect the cultural works in the Met Museum of Art as well as other museums and galleries.