In Memorium - Chris Roy - 1947 - 2019
As you become one of the elders you gain a fondness for stories and thinking about past memories. After leaving the Navy and pronouncing myself an art dealer in 1974, I was seriously out of my league having had a total academic career of three weeks of art history at Tulane University. John Lunsford, Bob Armstrong, Roy Sieber, and Ray Wielgus saw something that motivated them to help me out. I spent hours with Roy Sieber learning and listening as he inspired me to work harder to catch up.
On one occasion I sent Sieber the picture of a beautifully carved Mossi Wango mask. Roy immediately responded saying that he had a young graduate student currently working in the field in Burkina Faso and would send him the photo. This was my first introduction to Chris Roy and a friendship that would last over 40 years. Chris responded immediately with the name of the carver and a pronouncement that my "masterpiece" was made for sale. I, of course, was shocked and turned to Sieber saying that this was not possible as the mask was too beautiful. Roy's response has stayed with me throughout my career. " John you should like it, it was made for you."
As different as Chris and I were both academically and poiltically, we definitely got each other as a result of shared experiences. Chris graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1965 while I completed four years at nearby Williston Academy in Easthampton, Mass in 1963. Our two schools competed against one another and trust me boarding school in the 1960's tends to be a bonding experience.
I made a number of trips to Iowa in the 1970s, 80's and 90's and became good friends with Chris and Nora. I do remember some nice visits to Iowa City and spending some time bantering with Nora on our very diverse political theories. It was great fun and an opportunity to work with Chris and to show him my latest African finds. When it wasn't cool Chris and I both loved the art from what was then Upper Volta and is now Burkina Faso.
In 1992 Chris became the Mellon Adjunct Curator of African Art at the The Dallas Museum of Art. This position required Roy to make monthly trips to Dallas to curate the museum's collection. In 1994 Chris was faced with a major decision. Jean Paul Barbier, a very powerful tribal art collector from Geneva and friend of Margaret McDermott who was the Dallas Museum's most important patron, offered his West Africa gold collection to the museum. As museum's African curator, the decision fell to Chris whether to recommend the purchase. Roy knew exactly what he was going to do; however, we discussed it and agreed the only course was to be honest and ignore the obvious pressure. Chris Roy acknowledged that the collection was just not good enough for the museum and he did not support the acquisition. While there was no stated quid pro quo Chris was asked to leave the museum in 1994. Regardless of how this went down, we do know that Chris Roy showed his true character when he did what he did. And this we should celebrate.
I hope to stay in touch with Nora and will with the help of friends create an appropriate way for the museum in Iowa City on campus to honor Chris. If you are interested in participating contact me.
I already miss Chris and his booming laugh and very wry sense of humor. We laughed a lot and shared many adventures. Losing that leaves a big hole in anybody's life. I have reprinted Chris’ CV in its long form so that we may all appreciate what a major contribution he made to African Art.
And it wouldn’t be right not to share a comment from Nora: “Thank you, John, for your warm memories of Chris, and for sharing his curriculum vitae. Of course we, his family and friends, know that he was much more than a teacher and scholar. He always told his students, at the beginning of every course he taught over 40 years, that it was less important that they remember details about each piece of sculpture, or each ethnic group, or each set of cultural traditions, but that it was most important to understand that all cultures have value, that all peoples have intrinsic worth and dignity. Nora”
“CHRISTOPHER D. ROY Iowa City Christopher Damon Roy, of Iowa City, passed away on Feb. 10, 2019, surrounded by his immediate family. Chris was born Sept. 30, 1947, in Ogdensburg, N.Y., to Margaret Adam Snow and George Robert Roy. He grew up in New York City and graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1965. In 1965 to 1966, he traveled to Paris, France, to study French and art. When his student visa expired, he took a ferry to North Africa and hitchhiked from Algeria east to Egypt, Israel, Lebanon and then back to Europe. Chris returned to the U.S. to study art and art history at St. Lawrence University, where he met his future wife, Nora White Leonard. After graduation in 1970, he and Nora began their service as Peace Corps volunteers in Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta), West Africa, where Chris worked as the director of the Centre Voltaïque Des Artes. He married Nora at the Hôtel de Ville, Ouagadougou, Upper Volta, on Sept. 26, 1970. Chris received his Ph.D. in art history from Indiana University, Bloomington, Ind., in 1979, and began teaching African art history in 1978 at the University of Iowa. He leaves his beloved wife, Nora, Iowa City; his son, Nicholas Roy (Jill Scott), Centennial, Colo.; his daughter, Megan Roy (John Dolci), and granddaughter, Sylvia Dolci, Chicago; his sister, Robin Roy Katz (Michael Katz), New York, N.Y., and nephew Edward Katz; his brother, Matthew Roy (Caroline Roy), Lake Placid, N.Y., nieces, Katelin and Emily, and nephews, Robert and Christopher. Those close to him will remember him well for his sincere warmth, delightful wit and bold sense of humor. His robust energy and fascination with the world was contagious. For more than 40 years at the University of Iowa, his love for teaching art history and working with the Stanley Museum of Art was unquestionable. Chris' love of history extended far beyond his professional interests in art. He always had a book open on subjects ranging from the French and American revolutions to the journeys of Captain Cook and Admiral Nelson. He was a frequent patron of Iowa City's treasured bookstore, Prairie Lights, and was an avid storyteller both in his classrooms and one-on-one with the many people he counted as friends. He was a truly excellent photographer, videographer, potter, painter and writer, and leaves behind a collection of hundreds of thousands of photographs of his subjects in the field, and of his beloved family. In addition to his intellectual pursuits, Chris was an accomplished skier, canoeist and outdoor enthusiast. He enjoyed gardening, garden-scale trains and building and flying model airplanes with the Iowa City Aerohawks. The depth and scope of his contributions to the field of African art history are impressive. His careerlong focus on the arts of Burkina Faso is matched by the nearly encyclopedic power of "Art & Life in Africa" (ALA), which he published as a CD-ROM in 1997 and redeveloped as a website in 2014. His impact as a teacher, as the Elizabeth M. Stanley Faculty Fellow of African Art History at the University of Iowa, was no less remarkable. He oversaw the completion of 15 Ph.D. candidates' work, and every fall semester nearly 300 students packed the largest lecture hall at UI's Art Building West to attend his lectures on African art. High enrollment was common for his all courses, including those on Native American, oceanic and pre-Columbian art. His long history of work with the Stanley Museum supported an object-oriented approach complemented by a social history of art that captivated and inspired students for decades. Scholars reviewed his exhibitions for the museum positively for the way in which artistic quality drove his motivations for selection and display, and for the way in which he treated attribution carefully. As a leader in his field, Chris founded the Project for Advanced Study of Art and Life in Africa (PASALA), which provided scholarships for graduate coursework and research in Africa, as well as conferences and publications on African art. In addition to publications on the Stanley Collection and the Bareiss Family Collection, Chris will be remembered equally in relation to the Thomas G.B. Wheelock Collection of art from Burkina Faso, for which he devoted specific scholarship in 2007. "Mossi," which he published for the "Visions of Africa" series in 2015, will remain a standard art historical text on the subject along with his "Art of the Upper Volta Rivers" (1987). Beyond his courses, scholarship, guest lectures, ALA website, 19 films and numerous exhibitions, Chris' YouTube videos on art and life in Africa have reached perhaps the widest audience, with more than 10,000 subscribers and more than 4 million viewers worldwide. It is encouraging to think that the world is a better place because of Chris and all of those touched by his warmth and brilliance. A celebration of Chris' life will be held in Iowa City in the spring. The family request that gifts in memory of Chris be made to the Christopher D. Roy Memorial Fund at the UI Center for Advancement: www.givetoiowa.org/2019la98. The fund has been created to provide support to undergraduate art history students for internships at the UI Stanley Museum of Art.”
Published in The Gazette on Feb. 16, 2019
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CurriculumVitae
CHRISTOPHER DAMON ROY
Business Address: The School of Art and Art History, The University of Iowa,
Iowa City, IA 52242
Residence: 615 Templin Road, Iowa City, Iowa 52246
Phone: 319/335-1777 (School of Art)
319/354-9033 (home)
E-mail: christopher-roy@uiowa.edu
Web site http://www.uiowa.edu/~africart
Education: St. Lawrence University, Canton, New York. B.A., 1970 .
Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, Department of Fine Arts.
M.A., 1975, Ph.D., 1979
Administrative Positions:
2000 -2003 Associate Dean of International Programs, University of Iowa
Teaching at The University of Iowa:
2004- Elizabeth M. Stanley Faculty Fellow of African Art History
1992- The University of Iowa, School of Art and Art History, Professor
1978-1992 The University of Iowa, School of Art and Art History, Instructor (1978),
Assistant Professor (1979), Associate Professor (1984, with tenure).
Other Positions Held:
1985-95 Curator, Art of Africa, the Pacific and Pre-Columbian America, The
University of Iowa Museum of Art
1992-94 Mellon Adjunct Curator of African Art, The Dallas Museum of Art.
SCHOLARSHIP:
Research in Africa 2004-09
2015 (in progress) Single-author monograph on the art of the Mossi people of Burkina
Faso. Milan: 5 Continents
Spring, 2010 Research trip to Burkina Faso
Spring, 2007 Research trip to Burkina Faso to attend the Festival Panafricain du
Cinema
Spring, 2006 Research trip to Burkina Faso to study the development of cultural tourism
industry and its impact on art (Development assignment).
Spring, 2007 Research trip to Burkina Faso to study the development of cultural tourism
industry and its impact on art.
February 2004 Research trip to Ghana to attend and film to funeral of the chief of
Techiman
Curriculum Vitae - Christopher Damon Roy
December 2004 Research trip to Burkina Faso to film and study the performance arts of the
Fulbe people in the village of Dori.
Publications
Books
2007 The Land of Flying Masks: Art of Burkina Faso from the Collection of
Thomas G.B. Wheelock. Munich: Prestel Verlag
1987 Art of the Upper Volta Rivers. Meudon: Alain and Francoise Chaffin.
1997 Kilengi: Afrikanische Kunst aus der Sammlung Bareiss/ Kilengi: African
Art from the Bareiss Collection. Hannover: The Kestner Gesellschaft.
440 pp., 220 color plates (English edition by University of Washington
Press).
1992 Art and Life in Africa: Selections from the Stanley Collection. Iowa City:
The University of Iowa Museum of Art. Second edition, expanded,
revised and edited.
1990 African Masks and the Spirit Aesthetic. Utica, NY: The Munson
Williams Proctor Institute.
1989 Forms and Functions of African Art. Taipei: National Museum of
History. Co-authored with Allen F. Roberts. (Of all of the catalogues
listed here, this is the only one that was a collaborative effort. Of the
seven chapters, five were my work, and two were by Allen Roberts.)
1988 Selections from the Julian and Irma Brody Collection (guest curator).
The Des Moines Art Center.
1985 Art and Life in Africa: Selections from the Stanley Collection. Iowa City:
The University of Iowa Museum of Art.
1981 African Art from Iowa Private Collections. Iowa City: The University of
Iowa Museum of Art.
l979 African Sculpture: The Stanley Collection. Iowa City: The University of
Iowa Museum of Art.
Book Chapters
1995 “Art of Ancient Africa" (Ch. 13) and "Art of Africa in the Modern Era"
(Ch. 25) for Art History, ed. Professor Marilyn Stokstad, New York: Harry
N. Abrams, 1st and 2nd editions.
Multi-media:
Curriculum Vitae - Christopher Damon Roy
DVDs DVDs filmed (mostly), edited, narrated and marketed by me. These are
being sold in large numbers nationally and internationally. Every
important university and museum in America has purchased copies. I
film these in Africa and edit them in my office at Iowa.
There have been two important developments recently concerning
these videos: a review by Peri Klemm, at UC Northridge, is in press at
African Arts and is due to be published this spring. I have submitted six
videos to FESPACO, the Festival pan-africain du cinema in
Ouagadougou. Because I am not African I cannot compete for official
prizes, but I felt it would be good to exhibit the films in public, in
Burkina Faso, where most of them were made.
2008 Iron Village: The Bamogo Smith Clan in the Village of Dablo
The men and women of the Bamogo smith clan make and fire pottery, grind
millet on grindstones, spin thread, dance the wiskoamba and the tokiriba,
smelt iron, forge tools, and watch the Baga diviner perform.
2008 Birds of the Wilderness: The Beauty Competition of the Wodaabe
People of Niger
The Wodaabe people of southern Niger, West Africa, hold a beauty
competition each fall in which young men paint their faces red and wear
costumes of white beads and cloth, with white ostrich feathers in their hats,
They are judged based on charm and beauty by the young women of the
competing clan. This video includes Wodaabe camp life, the feast before
the competition, a young men's initiation, lots of young women, the Ruume
dance of welcome, a young man applying his makeup, and lengthy, detailed
footage of the Geerewal.
2008 Fulani: Art and Life of a Nomadic People
The Fulani are a diverse people who live across west Africa from Dakar to
Lake Chad. They herd cattle, sheep, goats and camels, and live from the
milk from their cows. They create very beautiful art, including hairstyles,
dress, mats, architecture, song, music and dance. This video features three
Fulani peoples: the Gowabe, Jelgobe, and Wodaabe. The video includes
scenes of daily life, interiors and exteriors of their homes, cattle, milking,
making butter, weaving mats, and the spectacular dances of the Wodaabe
Fulani in Niger, the Geerewal and the Ruume. Young men paint their faces
red with clay and butter, and put on beautiful costumes of beads, white
cloth, and ostrich feathers. They dance in long lines to show off their sex
appeal. The competitions are judged by beautiful young women from the
opposite clan, and the winners' names are remembered for years to come.
2008 Coming of Age in Africa: Initiation in the Bwa Village of Dossi
Curriculum Vitae - Christopher Damon Roy
The young men and women of the N'Kambi clan in the village of Dossi
prepare for the celebration that will mark their passage from the world of
children to the world of adults. The senior elders of the clan sacrifice
chickens on the shrine of Lanle to ask for the spirit's blessings. Young men
fashion new hemp costumes for the masks, and dye them red. They paint
the masks with red, white, and black pigments they make themselves, and
along with the young women they perform in the village plaza to celebrate
their coming of age.
2006 African Art as Theater: The Bwa Masks of the Gnoumou Family of
Boni
The masks of the Gnoumou family in the Bwa village of Boni act out the
historical encounters between their ancestors and the spirits of the
wilderness 45 minutes.
2006 Speaking With God: A Mossi Baga Diviner in Burkina Faso
An elderly diviner, whose ancestor was painted in 1907 by the German
explorer, Leo Frobenius, wears a spectacular costume of beads, shells,
leather and iron, as he speaks with God. 45 minutes
2006 African Sculpture: Carving a Crocodile Mask, Shaping a Mask of
Leaves
African carvers at work creating a mask of wood for the Gnouomou family
in the town of Boni, and men of the Bayer family in Boni fashioning a mask
of leaves, which is worn for one day and then destroyed. 1 hour.
2006 Masks of Leaves and Wood: The Bwa People of Burkina Faso
The Bwa people make masks of leaves that represent the spirit of the
springtime and of the wilderness, and masks of wood that represent nature
spirits. You see the masks perform, hear the musical accompaniment, and
watch the people of the village interact with the masks. 1 hour.
2005 From Iron Ore to Iron Hoe: Smelting Iron in Africa 100 minutes
A very detailed video of every step in the process of smelting iron in a
traditional clay furnace in Africa, from mining the ore, burning the
charcoal, building the furnace, smelting the ore, forging the iron tools. The
only such video available anywhere. Iron has not been smelted from ore in
Africa for almost sixty years, and it is fascinating to see the simple but
efficient techniques African smiths once used.
2005 African Art in Motion: The Masks of the Nuna People of Burkina Faso
Curriculum Vitae - Christopher Damon Roy
2005 African Art in Motion: The Masks of the Nuna People of Burkina Faso
90 minutes
Three videos of masks in performance in 2001-05 in Burkina Faso, West
Africa. Two videos in the villages of Savara and Tisse, and one of the
annual mask festival at Pouni. Masks include butterfly, crocodile, hyena,
bush pig, antelope, policeman, and more. Each mask's performance
recreates the encounters between the ancestors of the village and the
supernatural spirits that protect the community.
2005 Art as a Verb in Africa: The Masks of the Bwa Village of Boni 90
minutes
The spectacular mask performances of the Bwa people in the village of
Boni, in central Burkina Faso include plank masks, hawks, lepers, dwarfs,
serpents, and other spiritual beings. The masks' performances recreate the
characters of the spiritual beings they represent. Filmed at the annual mask
festival in 2005. Organized by Yacouba Bonde, Artistic Director of the Bwa
Masks of Boni.
2005 A Year in the Life of an African Family: The Bamogo Family of
Burkina Faso 120 minutes
The Bamogo family of northern Burkina Faso raise millet, sorghum and
corn on a large farm. This video follows the family as they harvest their
crops, thresh grain, cook a full meal, brew millet beer, attend a ceremony of
the local chief, grind millet on a stone grindstone, watch a diviner perform
wearing a mask, attend a large public festival, and plant the new crop in the
spring.
2005 The Death of an African King: The Funeral of the Omanhene of
Techiman 60 minutes
Osabarima Dotobibi Takyia Ameyaw II, the Chief of the Ghanaian city of
Techiman, turned his face to the wall in September, 2003 after a long and
distinguished career as chief and as a colonel in the armed forces of Ghana.
His funeral was celebrated in February, 2004 in Techiman, and because he
had died while still chief, it was attended by most of the important chiefs of
Ghana as well as by the Chief of State and the former president. This video
covers all six days of the funeral, and includes spectacular footage of the
royal arts of Ghana, including funeral cloth, gold ornaments, umbrellas of
state, drums, dancing, and both military and Christian rites.
2003 African Pottery Techniques 60 minutes
2003 African Masks: Burkina Faso 60 minutes
2003 African Weaving 25 minutes
Curriculum Vitae - Christopher Damon Roy
2003 A Day in the Life of a Village in Africa 60 minutes
2004 Drums of Africa: The Talking Drums of Techiman 40 minutes
2005 Brewing Millet Beer in Africa 40 minutes
CD-ROM Developed from 1994-97 with $250,000 grant from the Department of
Education and $250,000 grant from the National Endowment for the
Humanities (the largest NEH grant ever awarded at the University of Iowa)
1994-1997 "Art and Life in Africa: Recontextualizing African Art in the Cycle of
Life." CD-ROM program. 600 objects, 750 field photographs, 11 chapters,
1400 pages of text, 28 maps, 107 ethnographies, 36 essays by international
scholars. Principal investigator, editor, project director. Completed, spring,
1998. Funded by Fund for Improvement for Post-Secondary Education.
Books I Have Edited
2000 Clay and Fire: African Pottery. Iowa Studies in African Art, volume 4,
Iowa City: The Project for Advanced Study of Art and Life in Africa.
1990 Art and Initiation in Zaire. Iowa Studies in African Art , volume 3. Iowa
City: The Project for Advanced Study of Art and Life in Africa.
1987 The Artist and the Workshop in Traditional Africa. Iowa Studies in
African Art , volume 2. Iowa City: The Project for Advanced Study of
Art and Life in Africa.
1985 Iowa Studies in African Art , volume 1. Iowa City: The Project for
Advanced Study of Art and Life in Africa.
Articles
Refereed :
1999 “Kilengi: African Art from the Bareiss Collection,” (exhibition preview).
African Arts 32(2):52-69.
1987 "The Spread of Mask Styles in the Black Volta Basin," African Arts
20(4):40-47,89.
1983 "African Art in the Stanley Collection," African Arts 16(3):32-46,79.
1982 "Mossi Weaving," African Arts 15(3):48-59,91-92.
1982 "Mossi Chiefs' Figures," African Arts 15(4):5259,90-91.
1981 "Mossi Dolls," African Arts 14(4):47-51,88.
1980 "Mossi Zazaido," African Arts 13(3):42-45,92.
Non-Refereed:
Curriculum Vitae - Christopher Damon Roy
2008 African Art from the Menil Collection, editor Kristina Van Dyke. 2008:
Yale University Press. Essay 26-7 “Antelope Headdresses”, essay 28,
“Female Figure”, essay 29-31 “Flutes”, essay32, 33 “Entertainment
Masks”, essay 34 “Ram Mask”,
2004 “The Speed and Color of Aggression: A Mossi Mask,” in Lamp, Frederic
editor See the Music, Hear the Dance. Baltimore Museum of Art.
2003 “Leaf Masks Among the Bobo and the Bwa,” in Herreman, Frank, ed.
Material Differences: Art and Identitity in Africa. New York: Museum
for African Art.
2002 “Graphic Patterns and Spirit Associations in Burkina Faso,” BaesslerArchiv: Neue Folge. Berlin: Museum für Volkerkunde
2000 “Traditional Crafts in Contempory Nigeria: Case Studies of Pottery
Making in Ooko and Dada Compound (Ilorin), Southwestern Nigeria,”
with Boye Agunbiade, Michael McNulty, and Charles Hindes. In Clay
and Fire: Pottery in Africa, edited by Christopher Roy
1992 "Continuity and Change in the Art of Mande Blacksmiths in the Valley
of the Black Volta," Papers from the First Conference on Artists,
Artisans and Traditional Technologists in Development. Iowa City:
Center for International and Comparative Studies.
1985 101 Masterworks: The University of Iowa Museum of Art. Iowa City.
Nine catalogue entries.
1989 The Dogon of Mali and Upper Volta. Munich: Galerie fur Afrikanische
Kunst.
1987 "The Western Sudan", essay on the geography, history, peoples,
languages, and styles of the Western Sudan and catalogue entries on
Burkina Faso for Afrikanische Kunst (catalogue of the Barbier-Muller
Collection, exhibition in Dusseldorf, Geneva, published in separate
French, German, English editions.) Munich: Prestel Verlag
1987 Catalogue entries on African objects for the Smithsonian Institution
Traveling Exhibition Service exhibition and publication Generations.
1983-84 "Form and Meaning of Mossi Masks," Arts d'Afrique Noire (Paris) 48
(winter 1983):9-23; 49 (spring 1984)22.
1984 "Mossi Mask Styles," Iowa Studies in African Art 1: 45-66.
1981 "Mossi Masks in the Barbier-Muller Collection," Connaissance des Arts
Tribaux 12, Geneva.
1981 “Male Figure: Doorpost,” For Spirits and Kings: African Art from the
Tishman Collection. Susan Vogel, editor. New York: The Metropolitan
Museum of Art.
Catalogue
Contributions
Curriculum Vitae - Christopher Damon Roy
2000 “Westafrika, “ in Afrika: Kunst und Kultur. Berlin: Museum fur
Volkerkunde, English edition 2003 “West Africa” in Africa: Art and
Culture. Editor Hans-Joachim Koloss
1998 "Tribal Arts," An Uncommon Vision: The Des Moines Art Center. Des
Moines Art Center. (The first catalogue of the collection at the Des
Moines Art Center, there are essays on each of the parts of the collection.
I wrote the essay on the African collection, which I have helped them
acquire over the past twenty years from Julian Brody and other donors.)
1995 Four catalogue entries for Africa: Art of a Continent, London: Royal
Academy of Art
1991 Spoons from Burkina Faso re-publication in English of essay in Spoons
in African Art. Zurich: Museum Rietberg
1990 Loffel in der Kunst Afrikas. Zurich: Museum Rietberg (entries for two
spoons from Burkina Faso),
1989 "A Nuna Flute: Attribution and Meaning," in Sounding Forms: African
Musical Instruments, edited by Marie Therese Brincard (catalogue of an
exhibition at The National Museum of African Art/ Smithsonian,
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Musee
des Arts Africains et Oceaniens, Paris). New York: The American
Federation of Arts, also published in French by the Musee des Arts
Africaines et Oceaniens, Paris.
Dictionary Entries:
2007 Entry on dress in Burkina Faso for ten-volume encyclopedia of dress
around the world, published in Oxford, GB. Editors Joann Eicher U.
Minnesota and Doran Ross UCLA
1996 Entry for "Art of West Africa," for the Encyclopedia of Sub-Saharan
Africa.
1988-93 Entries on the Mossi, Bobo, Bwa, Gurunsi, Lobi, geography of Burkina
Faso, contemporary art in Burkina Faso for The Dictionary of Art,
London: Macmillan.
FestschriftContribution:
2002 “West African Pottery Forming and Firing,” Mundus Africanus:
Festchrift for Karl Ferdinand Schaedler. Rahden:Verlag Marie Leidorf.
1989 "Mossi Pottery Forming and Firing," in Man Does Not Go Naked:
Textilien und Handwerk aus Afrikanischen und anderen Landern, Beate
Engelbrecht and Bernhard Gardi, editors. Baesler Beitrage zur
Ethnologie- Ethnologisches Seminar der Universitat und Museum fur
Volkerkunde. Basel.
Curriculum Vitae - Christopher Damon Roy
Reviews:
1982 "Kunst und Religion der Lobi," by Piet Meyer. Zurich: 1982. African
Arts 16(2):23,81-84.
1982 "Africa: The Art and Culture of the Upper Volta," by Laurent van Ham
and Robert van Dijk. Rotterdam: 1980. African Arts 15(4):17-21.
1982 "Les Bobo: Nature et fonction des masques," by Guy Le Moal. Paris:
1981. African Arts 15 (2):10-17.
1980 "Traditional Sculpture from Upper Volta," African Arts 13(2):74.
Museum Exhibitions:
1997 Kilengi: Afrikanische Kunst aus der Sammlung Bareiss. Hannover, The
Kestner Gesellschaft; Vienna, Museum fur Angewandte Kunst; Munich,
Kunstbau Lehenbachhaus; Kilengi: African Art from the Bareiss
Collection Iowa City, University of Iowa Museum of Art; Purchase,
Newberger Museum
1994 Journeys: Life Stories of African Art. Iowa City. The University of Iowa
Museum of Art.
1993 Nomads of the Northern Plains: Ledger Drawings from the Solomons
Collection. Iowa City: The University of Iowa Museum of Art.
1992 Art and Life in Africa: Selections from the Collections of C.M. Stanley
and Elizabeth M. Stanley. Iowa City, The University of Iowa Museum of
Art.
1992 Woven in Beauty: Navajo Textiles from Iowa Collections. Iowa City:
The University of Iowa Museum of Art.
1991 Women’s Art in Africa: African Wood fired Pottery from Iowa
Collections. Iowa City: The University of Iowa Museum of Art.
1990 Art of Melanesia from the University of Iowa Collections. Iowa City:
The University of Iowa Museum of Art.
1990 African Masks and the Spirit Aesthetic. (Guest curator) Utica, NY: The
Munson Williams Proctor Institute.
1989 Forms and Functions of African Art. Taipei and Taichung, Republic of
China. Chief curator and author, With Allen F. Roberts.
1988 Selections from the Julian and Irma Brody Collection (guest curator).
The Des Moines Art Center.
1987 Art from the Underworld: Selections of Pre-Columbian Art from the
Collection of Eugene and Ina Schnell. Iowa City: The University of
Iowa Museum of Art.
1985 Art and Life in Africa: Selections from the Stanley Collection. The
University of Iowa Museum of Art.
Curriculum Vitae - Christopher Damon Roy
1981 African Art from Iowa Private Collections. The University of Iowa
Museum of Art.
1979 African Sculpture: The Stanley Collection. The University of Iowa
Museum of Art.
Teaching:
PhD Students Supervised:
Name Years Role Degree
David Riep 2010 Committee chair PhD
Yomi Ola 2009 Committee chair PhD
Sarah Clunis 2006 Committee chair PhD
Gitti Salami 2005 Committee chair PhD
Susan Cooksey 2004 Committee chair PhD
Jennifer Vigil 2004 Committee chair PhD
Karen Milbourne 2003 Committee chair PhD
Barbara Thompson 1999 Committee chair PhD
Boureima Diamitani 1999 Committee chair PhD
Brenda Molife 1998 Committee PhD
Dana Rush 1997 Committee PhD
Manuel Jordan 1994 Committee chair PhD
Emily Vergara 1994 Committee chair PhD
Julia Risser 1994 Committee chair PhD
New course “The Art of African Kings” developed for undergraduates/graduates. Offered
as a course in the fall of 2006
New course developed for First Year Seminar on “The Art of Exploration.” Offered as a
course in the fall of 2005, 2006.
Grants:
1987-2007 Director, Project for the Advanced Study of
Art and Life in Africa (PASALA). External
support totaling over $1,500,000 since 1978.
$70,000 in 2006. $75,000 every year since
2000.
1999-00 Art and Humanities Initiative grant $3,000 to duplicate research photos.
1997-99 National Endowment for the Humanities, grant totaling
$220,000 (plus $400,000 in institutional matching) to adapt
the CD-ROM for high school use and train high school
teachers to use it. Project Director.
Curriculum Vitae - Christopher Damon Roy
1995-98 Fund For the Improvement of Post Secondary Education,
grant totaling $240,000 (plus $250,000 in institutional
support) over three years to develop a CD-ROM based
program titled "Art and Life in Africa" for use in collegelevel classes on African art. Completed October, 1998.
Project Director.
1991 National Endowment for the Humanities, Travel to Collections Grant, to
visit museums in Berlin, Munich, Brussels
1990 University House Summer Fellowship, with Allen Roberts, to work on
text for new edition of Stanley Collection catalogue
1989 Smithsonian Institution Fellowship to carry out research at the National
Museum of African Art (summer).
1986 Grant from The University of Iowa Video Production Unit to produce
two videotapes of masked performances in Burkina Faso (awarded a
prize for creative excellence at a major national video conference).
1982-85 University of Iowa Faculty Scholarship for research in Africa, spring
1983, 1984, 1985 (a semester each year for three years).
1985 Senior Research Grant, Fulbright-Hays Program. For research in Burkina
Faso on "The Art of the Mossi and their Neighbors".
1982-85 Grant from the United States Information Agency for the establishment
of a faculty exchange with the University of Ouagadougou. With
Professor Jacques Bourgeacq, Department of French and Italian. For
support of research in Burkina Faso (Upper Volta), spring 1983, 1984,
1985.
1985 Director of a grant from the Iowa Humanities Board and the National
Endowment for the Humanities for a lecture series "Art and Life in
Africa" and a conference "The Artist and the Workshop in Traditional
Africa".
1981 University of Iowa "Old Gold" summer fellowship, for research in
Mexico.
1976-78 International Doctoral Research Fellowship, Social Science Research
Council and the American Council of Learned Societies.
1976-77 Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellowship, Fulbright-Hays
Program.
1975-76 NDEA Title VI, African Studies Program, Indiana University, for the
study of the More language.
Awards:
2004 Elizabeth M. Stanley Faculty Fellow of African Art History
2000 College of Liberal Arts, Collegiate Teaching Award.
Curriculum Vitae - Christopher Damon Roy
1995 Designated First Distinguished Art History Alumnus, Indiana University,
Henry Hope School of Fine Arts
1987 National Award for Creative Excellence, American Industrial Film
Festival, for “Yaaba Soore – The Path of the Ancestors”
Invited Lectures and Conference Presentations:
International
2001 Lecture to the National Cultural Colloquium (in French), organized by
the Ministry of Culture, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, televised
nationally, May, 2001.
1997 “African Art in Social Context,” Vienna, Austria, Museum für
Angewandte Kunst.
1991 “Art of Burkina Faso,” Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan,
Ibadan, Nigeria
1990 “Art and Life in Africa,” Taipei, Republic of China, National History
Museum
1983 “Mossi Art and History,” University of Ouagadougou, history seminar.
1983 “Form and Meaning of Mossi Masks,” Zurich, Switzerland, Rietberg
Museum.
National
2004 Public lecture at Dartmouth College, Heard Museum (January, 2004)
2004 Lecture in conference on performance, University of Florida, Gainesville
2002 (Spring) “Art of Burkina Faso” at Carleton College, Northfield, MN
2002 (Fall) “New Digital technology for the Documentation of African Art”, 2002
Annual Meeting of the African Studies Association, Washington.
2002 (Winter) Lecture on my CD at College Art Association meeting in Philadelphia,
February 2002.
2000 “Creating an Interactive CD-ROM on African Art for K-12 Instruction,”
The Virginia Museum of Art, Richmond.
1998 “Creating an Interactive CD-ROM on African Art,” New Orleans,
Triennial Symposium on African Art.
1998 “Invented Spirits and Art in Burkina Faso,” Washington University, St.
Louis, Art History Department.
1996 “The Laws of God: Graphic Patterns, Religious Laws and Religious
Communities in the Valley of The Black Volta River” University of
California-Santa Barbara, University of California-Los Angeles
1995 “Resistance and Receptivity to Change: in the Art of The Mossi and the
Curriculum Vitae - Christopher Damon Roy
Bwa.” Indiana University, Hope School of Fine Arts (in acceptance of
distinguished alumnus award).
1994 “The Laws of God: Graphic Patterns, Religious Laws and Religious
Communities in the Valley of The Black Volta River’” Grinnell College,
Davenport Art Museum, Carlton College
1994 “West African Pottery in Social Context,” Northwestern College, Orange
City, Iowa and Dordt College, Sioux Center Iowa
1992-93 Three Lectures on “Art and Life in Africa” to Friends of African and
African-American Art, Dallas Museum of Art.
1991 “Graphic Patterns and Spirit Cults in the Valley of the Black Volta,”
Oberlin College, Allen Memorial Art Museum, Dallas Texas, Dallas
Museum of Art.
1990 “Graphic Patterns and Spirit Cults in the Valley of the Black Volta,”
Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Worcester Art Museum,
Worcester, Mass, Lakeview Museum, Peoria Illinois.
1990 “Graphic Patterns and Spirit Cults in the Valley of the Black Volta,”
Indiana University, School of Fine Arts
1989 “Signs and Symbols in Voltaic Art,” National Museum of African Art/
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.
1989 “Signs and Symbols in Voltaic Art,” The Center for African Art, N.Y.
1988 “African Abstraction and 20th Century Art” Southeast Texas Museum of
Art, Beaumont, Texas
1987 “Do in Wood and Leaves Among the Bobo and the Bwa” Annual
Meeting of the African Studies Association, Denver
1987 “Why is African Art so Abstract?” University of Miami, Miami, Florida
1987 “The Spread of Mask Styles in the Black Volta Basin,” Annual Meeting
of the College Art Association, Boston, Raleigh, North Carolina Museum
of Art
1986 “Resistance and Receptivity to Style Among the Mossi and the Bwa,”
U.C.L.A. Museum of Cultural History, San Francisco Friends of Ethnic
Art, Lowie Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley
1985 “Style Diffusion in Central Burkina Faso,” University of Illinois,
Champaign-Urbana.
1984 “Art and Death in a Mossi Village,” University of California/ Santa Cruz.
1984 “Mask Styles of Burkina Faso,” Friends of Ethnic Art, San Francisco.
1983 “Animal Masks and Masks’ Performances at Voltaic Funerals,” Boston,
African Studies Association Annual Meeting.
1982 “Art and Death in a Mossi Village,” St. Lawrence University, Canton,
New York, Department of Fine Arts.
1982 “Geography, Environment, and Mossi Mask Styles,” Washington, D.C.,
Curriculum Vitae - Christopher Damon Roy
African Studies Association Annual Meeting. Panel Chair.
1982 “Mask Styles of Upper Volta,” University of California, Los Angeles.
School of Art, Art History, and Design.
1982 “Mossi Mask (karan-wemba) in the Stanley Collection at the University
of Iowa,” New York, College Art Association Annual Meeting, Panel on
“Individual Works of African Art” chaired by Suzanne Blier.
1982 “Mossi Chiefs’ Figures,” Columbia University, Seminar on Primitive and
Pre-Columbian Art.
1981 Mossi Pottery,” Bloomington, Indiana, African Studies Association
Annual Meeting. Panel Chair.
1980 “Form and Meaning of Mossi Masks,” Atlanta University, Atlanta,
Georgia, Fifth Triennial Symposium on African Art.
1980 “Mossi Masks’ Performance,” Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, African
Studies Association Annual Meeting. Panel Chair.
1979 “Mossi Mask Styles,” University of Iowa, Iowa City, School of Art and
Art History, Symposium on African Art.
1979 “Mossi Mask Styles,” Washington, D.C. National Museum of African
Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Local lectures (a very partial list):
1999 Distinguished Art History lecture, spring, 1999, Luther College,
Decorah, IA.
1993 “Resistance and Receptivity to Change in Burkina Faso: The Case of the
Mossi and the Bwa,” Clarke College, Dubuque (in conjunction with an
opening of objects from the Stanley Collection).
1991 “Continuity and Change in the Art of Mande Blacksmiths in the Valley
of the Black Volta River,” Iowa City: University of Iowa, Conference
“Redefining the Artisan”
1982 “Art and Death in a Mossi Village,” Iowa City, MidAmerica College Art
Association Annual Meeting, Panel on “Art and Religious Ritual”.
SERVICE:
Service to
Department:
2008-9 Department Graduate Admissions Committee
2005 Committee member, Joni Kinsey promotion to Professor
1999-2000 Department Admissions, Recruitment and TA assignment Committee,
Chair
1999 Ebon Fischer review committee
Curriculum Vitae - Christopher Damon Roy
1999 Isabelle Barbuzza review committee
1998- 2000 Web-master, art history program.
1998-99 William Dewey promotion and tenure committee
1998 Isabelle Barbuzza review comittee
1997-98 School of Art and Art History salary committee
1997 John Scott review committee for promotion to full professor
1996-98 Art History meeting secretary
1994 Stephen Foster review committee
1998 School of Art and Art History, Faculty Council
1992-4 . Search Committee, Director of the School of Art and Art History
1992-3 School of Art and Art History, Faculty Council
1981 Co-chairman of the Second Symposium on African Art, School of Art
and Art History, University of Iowa.
1982 Professor in Charge of Art History
This is an abbreviated list of my departmental committee assignments. I have eliminated
most between 1978 and 1982.
Service to College:
2007 Office of VP for Research, Committee on Natural History Museum
2000 College of Liberal Arts Committee on Museum Studies Program, Chair
1998-99 College of Liberal Arts Promotion and Tenure Committee
1999 College of Liberal Arts Faculty Scholar selection committee
1998 Lecture (with Lee McIntyre) to Saturday Morning Scholars
1989-92 Foreign Civilization and Culture Coordinating Committee, College of
Liberal Arts, (1992 chair)
Service to University:
2000-2001 African Studies Program, Chair
1998-2000 Faculty Senate
1996-98 Faculty Assembly
1979-2003 African Studies Program committee
1995- present Adjunct Curator of Tribal Art, The University of Iowa Museum of Art.
1994-5 Search Committee, Associate Provost for International Programs
1991-92 Chair of Foreign Civilization and Culture Coordinating Committee.
1990-92 Faculty Senate
Curriculum Vitae - Christopher Damon Roy
1990 Search committee, Dean of the Graduate College
1987-90 University of Iowa Graduate Council
1987-90 Committee on The Artist, Artisan and Technologist in Development,
Center for International and Comparative Studies
1988 Co-chair of Fourth Symposium on African Art at The University of
Iowa, "Art and Initiation in Zaire"
1987-88 Search Committee for Director of International Programs
1983-88 Member, Executive Committee on International and Comparative
Studies.
1984-86 University of Iowa Committee on Foreign Languages.
1985 Co-chair of Third Symposium on African Art at The University of Iowa,
"The Artist and the Workshop in Traditional Africa"
1984-85 Committee for a Center for Advanced Studies at the University of Iowa.
1981-83 Afro-American Studies Program, University of Iowa, Steering
Committee.
1979-88 Director of the African Studies Program,
1979-88 (Committee, 1979-85, Program 1985-88). Organized and lectured for
47:7 "Contemporary Africa," 3 s.h. (Global Studies Program), an interdisciplinary introduction to Africa offered in 1979, 1981, 1982.
Organized 47:110 "African News Colloquium," offered in 1983, 1984.
Service to
Profession:
1998 Panel Chair "Teaching About Africa through the use of Digital
Technology," New Orleans, Triennial Symposium on African Art.
1994-95 Advisory Committee, "Africa: Art of a Continent," London, Royal
Academy of Arts with Sir David Attenborough, Dr. John Mack, British
Museum, Dr. Hans-Joachim Koloss, Museum fur Volkerkunde, Berlin,
Mme. Francine N'Diaye, Musee de l'Homme, Paris
1995-1998 Standing Committee on Ethics, Arts Council of the African Studies
Association
1990-92 Chair of planning committee, Triennial Symposium on African Art,
hosted by The University of Iowa, April 23-25, 1992.
1989 Triennial Conference on African Art, Smithsonian Institution, (June 14-
17, 1989) planning committee, chair film and video panels, present paper
on "What's in a Mask?" and participate in panel on ethics in research and
collecting.
1989-1999 Consulting Editor, African Arts, U.C.L.A.
1988-90 Reviewer of post-doctoral fellowship applications, Getty Foundation
Curriculum Vitae - Christopher Damon Roy
1986-90 Board of Directors, Arts Council of the African Studies Association
1986 Chaired two panels on recent films of African art at the Triennial
Symposium on African Art at UCLA. Showed my films of mask
performances of Burkina Faso.
1986 Panel selection committee for Triennial Symposium on African Art at
UCLA.
1982-4 Fellowship Selection Committee, International Doctoral Research
Fellowship Program, Social Science Research Council and the American
Council of Learned
1981 Chairman of a panel on "Approaches to the Classification of African
Sculptural Styles," African Studies Association Annual Meeting, Howard
University, Washington, D.C.
1981 Chairman of a panel on "Traditional African Pottery forming and Firing
Techniques," African Studies Association Annual Meeting,
Bloomington, Indiana.
1980 Chairman of a panel on "Recent Research on Traditional Masking, "
African Studies Association Annual Meeting, University of
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Community Outreach:
1998 Trained 100 secondary school teachers from Iowa, Illinois and Nebraska
to use the “Art and Life in Africa” CD-ROM during four two-day
workshops in the summer of 1998. Funded by the National Endowment
for the Humanities. With L. Lee McIntyre.
1980-2000 Dozens of lectures at community centers, colleges, museums, art centers,
primary and secondary schools in Iowa City and the state of Iowa since
1978. Some of these were sponsored by the Iowa Humanities Board,
others by Hancher Arts Outreach, others were just invited lectures. In
1985-87 I lectured all over the state in a program sponsored by the
National Endowment for the Humanities and the Iowa Humanities Board
(I think there were a total of twenty-seven venues). Including Bettendorf,
Moline, Rock Island twice, Clinton, Marshalltown twice, Burlington
twice, Cresco, Sioux City, Muscatine twice, Dordt College, Northwestern
College (Orange City) twice, Cornell College, Mount Mercy College,
Iowa State University, University of Northern Iowa, Des Moines Art
Center, Mason City, Buena Vista College, Iowa City schools and R
