Campus News

Albany Institute of History & Art Features Exhibits by UAlbany�s Galembo

By Greta Petry (October 8, 2004)

Visions of Haiti: Vodou and Carnaval & Jacmel. Les INdiens (The Indians), Cibachrome print, 1997, Courtesy of Diego Corte Arte Ltd., New York

UAlbany Professor of Art Phyllis Galembo�s photographs are featured in three exhibitions at the Albany Institute of History & Art that explore magic, mystery, and the power of transformation through costume and masquerade. The institute is at 125 Washington Ave.
Galembo�s passion for costumes and masquerade began in her childhood when she would dress up in homemade costumes for Purim and Halloween. �I am fascinated by the way clothing can transform the self from an everyday person into something magical,� said the photographer. �The use of clothing and costume can be theatrical, sacred, or
simply celebratory.�
Galembo received a Master of Fine Arts in photography and printmaking from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1977, and joined the University at Albany Department of Art as a professor in 1978. Galembo broadened her interest in photography of costumes when she traveled to Africa in 1985 to photograph traditional Nigerian priests, priestesses, and ceremonial objects. Galembo�s ongoing interests led her to Haiti in 1993 when she photographed vodou culture and religion.

On exhibition through December 5, DRESSED FOR THRILLS: Photographs by Phyllis Galembo with Halloween and Masquerade Costumes includes selections from Galembo�s collection of vintage Halloween and masquerade costumes, accompanied by her photographs of people wearing the costumes.

Also through December 5, KINGS, CHIEFS, AND WOMEN OF POWER: Images from Nigeria depicts the lives of Nigerian spiritual leaders and illuminates some of West Africa�s elaborate cultural and religious traditions. Amid clashing ideologies and pressures for economic and social change, kings, chiefs, and women of power continue to exert a profound influence over the people. Loyalty to sacred kings and village chiefs ensures security in unsettled times and their rituals and trappings embody a view of how the world is constructed.

VISIONS OF HAITI: Vodou and Carnaval à Jacmel, on view through November 7, explores the human and divine faces of Haitian Vodou and the spiritual power behind Carnaval masquerade. Vodou is a melding of European Catholicism and African spirituality. Carnaval in Jacmel, Haiti, is expressed vividly with its papier-mâché masks, masquerade costumes, and body painting. Galembo�s photographs capture the spiritual ceremony, sociopolitical commentary, ridicule, and satire through the role reversal of animals and humans, male and female, and sacred and profane.

The institute is hosting a variety of public programs and special events for adult and family audiences as follows:

October 10: Museum Explorers Family Art and Gallery Adventure: The Art and Culture of Vodou; October 17: Slide Lecture: Magic, Mystery, and Masquerade with Galembo and a performance by Haitian dancer Nadia Dieudonné; October 24: Museum Explorers Day: A Halloween Extravaganza; November 4: Gallery Talk: Magic, Mystery, and Masquerade with Galembo and a dance performance by STOP (Student Theater Outreach Program) led by Broadway director Alan Weeks; and November 14: Museum Explorers Family Art and Gallery Adventure: Powerful Images/Powerful People.