"Peace, Power and Prestige:
Metal Arts in Africa"
Edited by Harn Curator of African Art Susan Cooksey
Details: 288 pages, 9.25 x 12 in.
Softcover: $45 | Hardcover: $70

"Through the Looking-Glass and
What Alice Found There"
Written by Lewis Carroll and
Illustrated by Maggie Taylor
Details: 196 pages, 11.5 x 11.5 in.
Hardcover: $95

Metal arts have been integral to the social, religious, economic, and political lives of African peoples for millennia. This publication and the exhibition it accompanies consider some of the many ways metal arts in sub-Saharan Africa have sustained and enhanced material and spiritual well-being. Further, they examine the wide diversity and nuanced intersections of roles metal objects and metal artists have played in building communities through supporting leadership, enhancing religious practices, and cultivating social discourse.  

Lewis Carroll’s masterpiece is brought to life in the stunning artwork of Maggie Taylor. Her prints incorporate photographic elements, scanned illustrations, sculptures, and artifacts pinned against timeless backgrounds. Her images—at once beautiful and menacing, real and surreal—create a visual counterpoint to Carroll’s writing style. She casts numerous individuals into the ever-changing roles and circumstances of the bewildered Alice, creating a complex, multi-faceted every-woman still easy to identify in each scene. This modern digital approach to a classic tale is a collaboration Carroll himself would have truly enjoyed.