The Palmer Museum of Art’s first major exhibition of the 2020 season will be “African Brilliance: A Diplomat’s Sixty Years of Collecting” and feature art collected over six decades by retired U.S. Ambassador Allen C. Davis. The exhibition will open on February 8 and run through May 24.

According to a release, the exhibition will display more than 80 works from East, Central, and West Africa. The objects are designed in a variety of ways from carved and decorated wooden sculptures, natural fiber and beaded textiles, metalwork, and ceramic pots that represent household, community and ritual practices from across these peoples and regions respectfully.

“African Brilliance: A Diplomat’s Sixty Years of Collecting” features 83 pieces from a variety of cultures including the Dan people of Liberia, the Mossi and Lobi peoples of Burkina Faso, the Dogon and Bamana peoples of Mali, the Akan peoples of Ghana, and the Kuba peoples of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, among others.

An online catalog will accompany the exhibition and feature essays by Dewey, Purdy, and Arnoldi, as well as interviews with Davis and members of the Penn State community who have had firsthand experience with the types of objects presented in the exhibition.