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Elisabeth L. Cameron

Elisabeth Cameron portrait
Professor, History of Art and Visual Culture
Visual cultures of Central Africa; issues of gender, colonialism, post-colonialism and iconoclasm.
Phone: 
Office: 831-459-2763
Office: 
Kresge College, Room 222
Mailing Address: 

Elisabeth Cameron University of California 1156 High Street Porter Faculty Services Santa Cruz, CA 95064

Selected Publications: 

Books, Edited Books, & Monographs

Portraiture & Photography in Africa. Co-edited with John Peffer. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. 2013

The Art of the Lega. Los Angeles: UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History. 2001.

Isn't S/He a Doll? Play and Ritual in African Sculpture. Los Angeles: UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History. 1996.

Reclusive Rebels: An Approach to the Sala Mpasu and their Neighbors. San Diego: San Diego Mesa College. 1991.

Contributions to Books

 

"The Fieldworker and the Portrait: The Social Relations of Photography." In John Peffer & Elisabeth L. Cameron, eds., Portraiture and Photography in Africa, pp. 141-173. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. 2013.

"Sakimatwematwe" (p. 282) and "Katanda" (p. 283) in William  A. Fagaley, ed., Ancestors of Congo Square: Selections from the African Art Collection at the New Orleans Museum of Art. London: New Orleans Museum of Art in association with Scala Publishers. 2011.

"Fashion, Not Weather: A Rural Primer of Style." In Suzanne Gott and Tina Loughran-Bini, eds. Contemporary African Fashion. pp. 53-66. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. 2010.

 "The Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo"; "Snapshot: Le Sape"; "Snapshot: Negotiating Identity", in  Joanne B. Eicher & Doran H. Ross, Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion. Volume I: Africa. Oxford: Berg Publishers.  2010.

"Kuba Dress and Textiles," in Joanne B. Eicher & Doran H. Ross, Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion. Volume I: Africa. Oxford: Berg Publishers. 2010.

"Human  Figures in Lega Art," "Spoons in Lega Art," "Sculpture of the Human Face in Lega Art," & "Multi-Headed Figures in Lega Art." In Kristina van Dyke, ed., African Art from the Menil Collection. Houston: Menil Foundation, Inc. Distributed by Yale University Press.  2008.

"Playing with the Future: Children and Rituals in North-Western Province, Zambia." co-authored with Manuel Jordán. In Simon Ottenberg and David Binkley, eds., Playful performers: African Children's Masquerading, pp. 237-46. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers. 2006.

"Each Performance is Unique." In Fred Lamp, ed., See the Music, Hear the Dance: Rethinking African Art at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Munich: Prestel. 2004.

“Part Three: Catalog” with Doran H. Ross. in Jacqueline Cogdell DjeDje, ed., Turn Up the Volume:A Celebration of African Music. pp. 236-337. Los Angeles: UCLA, Fowler Museum of Cultural History. 1999.

"Potential & Fulfilled Mothers: Initiations, Sculptures, and Masquerade in Kabompo District, Zambia." In Manuel Jordan, ed., Chokwe! Art and Initiation Among Chokwe and Related Peoples. pp. 77-84. New York: Prestel. 1998.

"Sala Mpasu Mask." In Petrine Archer-Straw, ed., Africa: The Art of a Continent. p. 260. London: Royal Academy of Arts. 1995.

"Lega Hats: Hierarchy and Status." In Mary Jo Arnoldi, ed., Crowning Achievements: African Arts of Dressing the Head, pp. 147-57. Los Angeles: UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History. 1995.

"Kuba Palm Wine Cups." In Doran H. Ross, ed., Visions of Africa: The Jerome L. Joss Collection of African Art at UCLA, pp. 124-25. Los Angeles: UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History. 1994.

"The Stampeding of Elephants: Elephant Imprints on Lega Thought." In Doran H. Ross, ed., Elephant: The Animal and its Ivory in African Culture, pp. 294-305. Los Angeles: UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History. 1992.

"Senufo Art." In Zena Pearlstone, ed., Art as Technology: the Arts of Africa, Oceania, Native America, Southern California, pp. 101-104. Hillcrest Press: Beverly Hills.1990.

"Ancestors and Living Men among the Batak." In Jerome Feldman, ed., The Eloquent Dead: Ancestral Sculpture of Indonesia and Southeast Asia, pp. 79-100. Los Angeles: Museum of Cultural History. 1985.

"Ancestor Motifs of the Paiwan." In Jerome Feldman, ed., The Eloquent Dead: Ancestral Sculpture of Indonesia and Southeast Asia, pp. 161-70. Los Angeles: Museum of Cultural History. 1985.

"Magamaog: Benevolent Ancestor of the Yami" (with Eugenia Sumnik-Dekovich). In Jerome Feldman, ed., The Eloquent Dead: Ancestral Sculpture of Indonesia and Southeast Asia, pp. 171-74. Los Angeles: Museum of Cultural History. 1985.

Articles

"Coming to Terms with Heritage: Kuba Ndop and the Art School at Mushenge." African Arts 43, 3 (2012): 28-42.

"Dancing a New Face: Contemporary Sala Mpasu Masquerades." African Arts. 37, 2 (2004): 74-79.

"Art of the Lega: Metaphor and Meaning in Central Africa." African Arts. 35, 2 (2002): 46-65, 92.

“More than the Human Figure: The Marc and Denyse Ginzberg Collection of African Art.” African Arts. 34, 2 (2001): 50-63, 96  

"Woman=Mask: Initiation Arts in North-Western Province, Zambia." African Arts 31, 2 (1998): 50-61.

“Men Portraying Women: Representations in African Masks.” African Arts 31, 2 (1998): 72-79.

"In Search of Children: Dolls and Agency in Africa." African Arts 30, 2 (1996):18-33.

"Sala Mpasu Masks." African Arts 22, 1 (1998):34-43.

Honors and Awards: 

2009 - 2011 American Council of Learned Societies Collaborative Research Fellowship (awarded with Professor Z. S. Strother, Columbia University).

2006 - 2013 The Patricia and Rowland Rebele Endowed Chair in the History of Art and Visual Culture

2005 - 2006 Principal Investigator, ARI grant of $10,000 for research in Nigeria, completed summer 2006

2005 Outstanding Achievement in African Studies. Awarded by African and African American Studies Research Project, University of California, San Diego.

2005 Co-Principal Investigator, NEH Consultation Grant for $10,000 for formative evaluations of "Art that Dies: Iconoclasm in Africa." Co- principle investigators: Professor Z.S.Strother (UCLA) and Elisabeth L. Cameron, submitted by the Museum for African Art, New York.

2003 - 2004 Principal Investigator, Fulbright-Hayes for field research in Zambia (twelve-month grant of $78,000)

Education and Training: 
Doctor of Philosophy, University of California, Los Angeles
Master of Arts, University of California, Los Angeles
Bachelor of Arts, Agnes Scott College, Decatur, Georgia