Join us for an evening walk-through of Belongings with co-curator Erica P. Jones. This exhibition explores the complex journeys of historical African objects, highlighting the many lives and meanings these works have taken on as they moved across continents and through different hands. Looking beyond traditional museum narratives focused on original use and makers’ intent, Belongings reveals stories of early African owners, colonial-era collectors, secondary market exchanges in Europe, and the objects’ eventual arrival at the Fowler Museum. Erica P. Jones is the senior curator of African arts and manager of curatorial affairs at the Fowler Museum at UCLA. Her work engages colonial legacies, royal arts, and diasporic connections. Jones has curated and co-curated numerous exhibitions, including: The House Was Too Small: Yoruba Sacred Arts from Africa and Beyond (2023); Inheritance: Recent Video Art from Africa (2019); and Meleko Mokgosi: Bread, Butter, and Power (2018). She serves on the board of African Arts journal; co-chairs the Collaboration, Collections, and Restitution Best Practices Working Group; and led the 2024 repatriation of looted Asante objects to Ghana. Jones holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in art history from UCLA and a B.A. in art history and anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania.
