The exhibition Voice of Africa: The African Collection has been rediscovered at the Haifa Museum of Art. The exhibition reveals the treasures of African cultures after 30 years of rare exhibits collected in the warehouses of Haifa museums.
Watch the broadcast of the exhibition opening evening:
Opening days and hours:
Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday - 10:00-16:00
Monday - closed
Thursday – 10:00-18:00
Friday - 10: 00-14: 00
Exhibition closing date: 3/1/26
300 items from different cultures in Africa
On April 3, 2025, the Haifa Museum of Art will open a new and extremely rare exhibition in Israel, entitled "The Voice of Africa: The African Collection Rediscovered." The exhibition, which will span most of the museum's first floor, will include approximately 300 items from various cultures in Africa.
The exhibition is curated by Dorit Shapir, formerly Senior Curator of African and Oceanic Art at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem. The main sponsor of the exhibition is the Federman family – Liora and Michael (Miki) Federman. In the early 60s, Mickey Federman’s father, the late Yekutiel Federman, purchased dozens of rare objects from West Africa for the Haifa Ethnological Museum, on behalf of the then mayor of Haifa, Abba Hushi, and these works are a central element of the collection.
Since the closure of the Haifa Ethnological Museum in 1995, the African collection of the Haifa Museums, which includes approximately 1,000 items, has remained hidden from public view after being moved to storage. In recent years, the Haifa Museums Collections Department has conducted a process that included re-cataloging, photographing the collection, and in-depth research with the help of international researchers. In addition, various works and exhibits have been restored, made possible by a generous grant from the Shusterman Foundation – Israel.
The collection is the result of contributions from passionate collectors from around the world who have studied cultures across Africa with interest and passion. The re-presentation of the collection also opened the door to its expansion, through new gifts to the museum that will be presented in the exhibition for the first time, led by a collection of some 700 Zulu jewelry and beer jug lids, donated by Stephen and Nadine Cohen.
The African continent is rich in a variety of cultures, each with its own unique social structures, beliefs, mythology, and art styles. The objects created by the various peoples of Africa play a significant role in every aspect of life, whether in religious ceremonies and rituals or in daily activities, which are closely intertwined. Life is seen as a holistic experience, in which the invisible world is an essential part of the visible, and therefore even the daily aspects of life, such as work, family, and social relationships, carry spiritual significance.
The exhibition takes visitors on a fascinating journey through the diverse cultures of sub-Saharan Africa, with each gallery revealing a different cultural aspect: items from South Africa intended for body decoration and signifying the wearer's socioeconomic status, items from West Africa associated with ritual ceremonies for communicating with ancestors, items that teach us about traditions of prophecy and healing, and items that display a unique African-European hybrid style and testify to the European colonialism of the African continent. The exhibition "Voice of Africa" once again gives voice to these works and invites viewers to immerse themselves in the diverse and vibrant cultures of Africa.
The "Voice of Africa" exhibition will feature several power figurines – human-shaped figurines that are filled or covered with various materials, such as medicinal herbs and animal bones – that can positively influence reality. To resonate with these exhibits and introduce girls and the younger generation to African cultures, visitors will be invited to create their own power figurines in the Family Gallery, under the title "Give Me Power." Visitors will be invited to assemble a figurine and charge it with various materials provided in the gallery; this while thinking about the personal symbolism of the materials for them, and what can protect them and serve as a personal amulet during this complex time. In addition, a film will be shown in the Family Gallery that will teach visitors how to dance the Dinha dance from Zimbabwe, which invites the spirits of the ancestors to participate in the harvest celebrations of the grain.
Dr. Kobi Ben-Meir, Chief Curator of the Haifa Museum of Art:
"The African Collection of the Haifa Museums is one of the only comprehensive public collections in Israel dedicated to African cultures, and is rare both in the number of items it includes and in the variety of cultures it represents. Its value stems primarily from its being an ethnographic collection of material culture, rather than a collection of art."
The collectors’ motive was not necessarily to acquire the most beautiful items, but to gather a comprehensive set of objects that tell a full story about the customs of a specific culture – from the ways in which it worshipped its ancestors to its eating habits. At a time when international artists rarely exhibit in Israel, the museum sees the exhibition as a significant window for the Israeli audience into ways of creation and thinking coming from overseas.
This exhibition is also the first of a series of exhibitions for the coming years, which will reexamine the ethnographic collections of Haifa museums, and expand the museum's field of display and research to non-Western cultures."
Dorit Shapir, exhibition curator:
"The exhibition presents ceremonial and everyday objects, all of which share animism – a worldview that believes that everything is imbued with life force. Whether the items on display are a mask, a carved figure, a fabric or a bone, they are all seen as holding energy within them. Far beyond being art, these objects are capable of changing reality or reflecting it."
In the absence of a written language in most African cultures, the items speak through images, colors, and shapes that tell a story, call the ancestors to action, or teach the community social norms and values. Since the masks on display originally appeared in a broad ceremonial context, including clothing, music, and dance, it was significant for us to also include documentary films of those ceremonies in the exhibition, which would present the masks not as inanimate objects, but as part of a living and vibrant culture.”
CEO of Haifa Museums Yotam Yakir:
"I thank and deeply appreciate the Federman family for their support of the exhibition. We were thrilled to find friends who believe in the wonderful development process that the Haifa Museum of Art is undergoing. This exhibition, alongside other projects, is another opportunity to be impressed by the rare depth, richness and diversity of our Haifa museum collections, which are receiving professional momentum, constant upgrading and improvement in every aspect."
Businessman Michael (Mickey) Federman said:
"It is a huge thrill for me to see the Haifa Museums' Africa collection come to life after decades, and to know that a large part of the impressive collection was donated to the city of Haifa by my father, the late Yekutiel Federman."
"The Voice of Africa" is an important exhibition that shines a spotlight on cultures that are important to know, and for me personally, it is a heartwarming closing of a circle. My wife, Liora, and I found a momentum of creativity and renewal in the Haifa Museum of Art – significant, high-quality, and intriguing museum work – and when it happens in Haifa, where I was born and to which I have a deep connection, it was undoubtedly a wonderful discovery that we were happy to embrace."
The exhibition was also made possible thanks to the donation of the Tambor company.
This is not an exhibition for children, there should be an age restriction.
Scary masks of skulls and bones and human hair
And look at the picture you posted of a carpet with guns and beheadings.