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Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

Mary Jo Arnoldi

Curator of African Ethnology
Department / Division
Anthropology
Education
  • Ph.D., Indiana University
  • B.F.A., Bowling Green State University
  • M.A., Michigan State University
Research Interests

African ethnography with emphasis on visual, material, and performing arts; post-colonial public culture, museum history and museology; African Diaspora in the New World

Publications
Book Chapter
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo. 2022. "The Community Speaks with Many Voices: Representing Cultural Heritage in the Smithsonian's African Voices Exhibition." In Heritage Practices in Africa. Iida, Taku, editor. 149–164. Osaka, Japan: National Museum of Ethnology. In Senri Ethnological Studies, 109.
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo. 2022. "The Grand Rotunda and its Sculptures: 1910 to the present." In La Grande Rotonde du Musée royal de l'Afrique centrale. RE/STORE. Mpane, Aime and Muller, Jean Pierre, editors. 41–52. Tervuren: Publication MRAC & BAI.
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo. 2021. "Bamana Religion and History." In Encyclopedia of African Religions and Philosophy. Mudimbe, VY and Davwahirehi, Kasereka, editors. 76–79. Dordecht, The Netherlands: Springer Reference.
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo. 2021. "Sogobo Puppetry Arts and Masquerades in Mali." In Bodies of Enchantment Puppets from Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas. Levell, Nicola, editor. 141–160. Vancouver, British Columbia: Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia.
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo. 2021. "Sogobo: Puppet Arts and Masquerade in Mali." In Bodies of Enchantment: Puppets from Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas. Levell, Nicola, editor. 141–160. Vancouver, British Columbia: University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology.
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo, Keita, Daouda, and Sidibe, Samuel. 2021. "The National Museum of Mali, 1960-present:: Protecting and Promoting the National Cultural Heritage." In National Museums in Africa: History, Identity and Politics. Silverman, Raymond, Abungu, George, and Probst, Peter, editors. 139–158. London and New York: Routledge.
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo. 2018. "Bamana Arts and Mande Traditions." In Oxford Bibliographies in Art History. Kaufmann, Thomas DaCosta, editor. New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo. 2016. "A Throwing Knife in Motion: The Journey from the Congo to the Smithsonian." In Engaging Smithsonian Objects through Science, History, and the Arts. Arnoldi, Mary Jo, editor. 175–191. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press.
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo. 2016. "Material Matters: Ways of Knowing Museum Objects." In Engaging Smithsonian Objects through Science, History, and the Arts. Arnoldi, Mary Jo, editor. 1–11. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press.
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo. 2016. "Locating History in Concrete and Bronze: Civic Monuments in Bamako, Mali." In A Companion to Public Art. Krause Knight, Cher and Senie, Harriet F., editors. 93–107. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118475331.ch4.
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo. 2013. "Who Owns the Past?: Constructing an Art History of a Malian Masquerade." In African Art, Interviews, Narratives: Bodies of Knowledge at Work. Grabski, Joanna and Magee, Carol, editors. 131–145. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. In African Expressive Cultures.
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo. 2011. "Maraka Face Mask with Costume." In [Exhibit Catalog:] Ancestors of Congo Square African Art in the New Orleans Museum of Art. Fagaly, William, editor. 72–73. New Orleans, LA: New Orleans Museum of Art.
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo. 2011. "Two Handled Storage Jar." In [Exhibit Catalog:] Ancestors of Congo Square African Art in the New Orleans Museum of Art. Fagaly, William, editor. 31–32. New Orleans, LA: New Orleans Museum of Art.
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo. 2010. "Headdress and Hairdos." In Berg encyclopedia of world dress and fashion. Eicher, Joanne and Ross, Doran, editors. 100–106. Oxford, UK: Berg Publishers. 1
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo. 2010. "Malian Dress." In Berg encyclopedia of world dress and fashion. Eicher, Joanne and Ross, Doran, editors. 278–283. Oxford: Berg. 1
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo. 2008. "From the Diorama to the Dialogic: A Century of Exhibiting Africa at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History." In Human Zoos: Science and Spectacle in the Age of Colonial Empires. Blanchard, Pascal, Bancel, Nicolas, Boetsch, Gilles, Deroo, Eric, Lemaire, Sandrine, and Forsdick, Charles, editors. 307–327. Liverpool, UK: Liverpool University Press.
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo and den Otter, Elisabeth. 2008. "Puppet Masquerade in Kirango, Mali: Continuity, Innovation and Changing Contexts." In Mande Mansa Essays in Honor of David C. Conrad. Belcher, Stephen, Jansen, Jan, and N'Daou, Mohamed, editors. 7–15. New Brunswick and London: Transaction Publishers.
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo. 2006. "Ndomo Ritual and Sogo bo Play: Boy's masquerading among the Bamana of Mali." In African Children's Masquerades Playful Performers. Ottenberg, Simon and Binkley, David, editors. 49–66. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers.
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo. 2005. "Les sculptures de la rotonde du Musee royal de l'Afrique centrale (1910-2005)." In La memoire du Congo le temps colonial. Vellut, Jean Luc, editor. 180–184.
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo. 2005. "African Voices: A Dynamic Collaboration between the Museum and Its Communities." In Representing African Art and Cultures. Kawaguchi, Yukiya and Yoshida, Kenji, editors. 79–97. Osaka: National Museum of Ethnology.
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo. 2004. "Commentaries on Beliefs and Values." In See the Music, Hear the Dance: Africa at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Lamp, Fred, editor. 272–275. Prestel.
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo. 2004. "African Puppetry." In African Folklore: An Encyclopedia. 376–378.
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo. 2004. "Criaçao, Imaginaçao, e Conhecimento nas Máscaras e Marionetas do Mali/ Création, Imagination et Connaissance à Travers les Masques et Marionnettes du Mali." In Sogobò: máscaras e Marionetas do Mali/Masques et Marionettes du Mali. Francisco, Capelo, editor. 22–69. Instituto Portugues de Museus.
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo. 2003. "Mali Puppet Theatre." In The Oxford Encyclopedia of theatre and performance. 792.
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo. 2003. "Art Colonial: les sculpteurs belges au Congo: 1911-1960." In Regards sur l'art africaniste en Belgique 1880-1960. Guisset, J. and Cornelius, S., editors. 224–251. Musee royal de l'Afrique centrale et Centre culturel de Woluwe-Saint Pierre.
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo. 2003. "Naloma-Tlon." In The Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance. 911.
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo. 2003. "Koteba." In The Oxford Encyclopedia of theater and performance. 695.
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo. 1997. "Herbert Ward's "Ethnographic Sculptures" of Africans." In Exhibiting dilemmas: issues of representation at the Smithsonian. Henderson, Amy E. and Kaeppler, Adrienne L., editors. 70–91. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo. 1989. "Reconstructing the History and Development of Puppetry in the Segu Region, Mali." In Man does not go naked: Textilien und Handwerk aus afrikanischen und anderen Ländern: mélanges offerts à Renée Boser-Sarivaxévanis. 221. Verlag. 30 in Basler Beiträge zur Ethnologie.
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo. 1987. "The Legacy of A Name Among the Bamana of Mali." In Generations A Universal Family Album. 157–159. New York and Washington: Pantheon and Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service.
Journal Article
Book
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo, editor. 2016. Engaging Smithsonian objects through science, history, and the arts. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press.
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo and Sullivan, Jack , editors. 2014. Narratives of the African Landscape: Perspectives on Sustainability. Indiana University Press. In Africa Today.
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo. 2014. Masks and Puppets from Mali: Artistry, Imagination and Knowledge. Lisbon: Museu Nacionale de etnologia. Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda.
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo. 2014. Máscaras e Marionetas do Mali Criação, Imaginação e Conhecimento. Lisbon: Museu Nationale de Etnologia et Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda.
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo. 1995. Playing with time: art and performance in central Mali. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. In Traditional arts of Africa.
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo and Kreamer, Christine Mullen. 1995. Crowning Achievements: African Arts of Dressing the Head. Los Angeles: Regents of the University of California.
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo. 1994. Where art and ethnology met: the 1922 exhibition of the Herbert Ward collection at the Smithsonian. Washington, DC: Dept. of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.
Web Page / Electronic Publication
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo. 2013. Arts of Western Africa.
Book Review
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo. 2009. [Book review] "African Art and the Colonial Encounter: Inventing a Global Commodity, by Sidney Littlefield Kasfir." Research in African Literatures, 40, (3), 246–247. https://doi.org/10.2979/RAL.2009.40.3.246.
Exhibition Catalog
  • Arnoldi, Mary Jo. 2009. Sogo Bo: The Animals Come Forth: Malian Puppets and Masks from the Collection of Mary Sue and Paul Peter Rosen [Exhibition catalog] Tenafly, NJ: The African Art Museum of the SMA Fathers.