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Collection Development in a Global Context: Documenting the Contemporary Art of Asia,Latin America, and AfricaAuthor(s): Terri BocciaSource: Art Documentation: Journal of the Art Libraries Society of North America, Vol. 26,No. 2 (Fall 2007), pp. 13-17Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Art Libraries Society of NorthAmericaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27949464 .
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Collection Development in a Global Context:
Documenting the Contemporary Art of Asia, Latin America, and Africa_ Terri Boccia
[Revision of a paper presented during the "Expanding Horizons:
Developing and Accessing Diverse Collections" session at the ARLIS/ NA Annual Conference in Atlanta, April 2007.]
In this expansive world of global economies, communica
tions, and cultures there is a surge of academic interest in art
currently being created outside the traditional Western countries. To meet the need, libraries have to adjust long-held collection
development policies that frequently relegate contemporary art
from such areas as Asia, Latin America, and Africa to a minimal level of collecting, if the areas are addressed at all. This has been the experience of the library at the Sterling and Francine Clark
Art Institute, which began only recently to collect books from these locations as part of an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
grant that was awarded to the Institute's department of research and academic programs.1 While contemporary art from these areas is increasingly the subject of United States exhibitions and
university press publications, much of the material falls outside usual distribution channels.
The title notification systems that apprise collection devel
opment librarians of forthcoming publications do not generally cover in any substantive way literature on contemporary art
published outside the United States, Canada, and Western
Europe. Nor do standard approval plans provide such material in appreciable quantities. Collections focusing on contemporary art from Asia, Latin America, or Africa are successfully built
by hand-selecting titles gleaned from specialized sources. Once titles have been chosen, the next challenge is locating available
copies. This article provides some pragmatic starting points for building a working desiderata list and offers a few useful
purchasing strategies. Globalization has come not just to the art world, but also to
the out-of-print book market. Specialist book dealers are essential to collecting in a new subject area and will be discussed below. Generalist online book site aggregators, such as addall.com,
Alibris, or AbeBooks, have expanded to include book dealers from across the globe, making it now just as easy to purchase a
book from Namibia as it is from New Jersey. Despite the scarcity of a title, it is always worthwhile to search these multinational
online, out-of-print sites. Another advantage to these sites is that it is not always necessary to work from a specific desiderata list.
The serendipity of keyword searching for specific individuals or
institutions can be far more rewarding than searching across a
union catalog, as zealous book dealers often list every contrib
uting scholar or artist.
Building a New Collection?Getting Started
New subject material brought into an existing collection should fit comfortably with the preexisting material. Asia, Latin
America, and Africa represent enormous geographical areas. It would be a daunting task to comprehensively cover all aspects of art currently being created in these areas. In order to maintain a
degree of control and direction, it is crucial to establish prelimi nary parameters. Start with a core group of artists and scholars as a chief focus. Decide if the collection will include contempo rary art that is created in a traditional style, art created for tourist or export trade, or contemporary versions of traditional crafts
in addition to painting, sculpture, and photography. While the focus of this portion of the collection may be contemporary art, establish a timeframe for what will be considered contemporary,
keeping in mind that this art is not created in a vacuum. For
example, the Clark library set a date of 1990 for the retrospec tive collection development for contemporary art of Asia, Latin
America, and Africa, going back to 1970 for supporting founda tion material. These parameters will expand and shift to reflect
particular collection needs as the selector's comfort with the new
subject matter and acquisitions processes increases.
One key to building a solid new collection is to become familiar with various authors and publishing houses that are
represented in respected library collections. In fact, it is a good idea to start growing a title list by building on the holdings of other institutions, be they museum or library. The Institute of International Visual Arts, or InlVA, happens to be both museum and library, with a publications component thrown in.2 Its mission is to promote culturally diverse art and artists through its exhibition program, to document this through its publica tions, and to make these publications available at its Web site.
As a highly specialized library, InlVA's online catalog offers
many titles that never reached mainstream distribution, but that
might be found in the out-of-print market. InlVA's broad focus on cultural diversity makes it a good starting place for locating material on artists working in Asia, Latin America, and Africa.
Universes in Universe is a broad-based Web site with a focus on the "visual arts of Africa, Asia, [and] Latin America within the context of international art processes."3 Its IntArtData section
provides links to cultural organizations, exhibitions, publica tions, and events by specific region or country. The publications pages are particularly useful from a collection development standpoint, but so too are the lists of museums and galleries. Plugging these institutions into a keyword search at online book dealer sites can yield fruitful results.
Volume 26, Number 2 ? 2007 ? Art Documentation 13
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Biennial Exhibitions and Contemporary Art Documentation Biennials have been receiving a lot of scholarly attention
in the last couple of years, particularly for their importance in a global context.4 The past ten years have seen a proliferation of biennial exhibitions on just about every continent. Some of these exhibitions are organized around a specific theme while others are united by simple geography.5
Biennial exhibitions and their accompanying publications have always been an
important source of up-to-date informa
tion on the contemporary art of these three regions, providing a snapshot of who is doing what, and more particularly, what a selection committee considers to be representative and impor tant at that moment in time. The Havana biennial (now in its ninth manifestation) has a committed history of focusing specifi cally on artists from Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Each of the exhibitions has been well documented with a catalog and occa
sionally with supplemental volumes. While previous editions are not widely available, they do appear from time to time in the
out-of-print market and can be "wish listed" with vendors that deal specifically with Latin America.
Since 1990 there has also been an explosion of biennials across Asia, from Singapore and Shanghai to Bangladesh and
Beijing. Many, although not all, have issued catalogs or other
publications to accompany the events. Most of these titles are
exceptionally scarce, with the best chance of acquiring them
being with the organizers. The catalogs for the Dak'Art biennials held in Dakar,
Senegal, are invaluable for the study of pan-African contempo rary art, extending even to Diaspora artists. The seventh Dak'Art biennial was held in 2006. While these titles are rarely found on the general market, most of the catalogs are available directly from the Dak'Art organization Web site.6
A continuing biennial that revolves around contempo rary photography in Africa is Rencontres de la Photographie Africaine. The exhibitions are mounted in Bamako, with the seventh exhibition being held in 2007. A catalog published in France has accompanied each exhibition. While scarce, they do
appear on the out-of-print market.
As an aside, Johannesburg tried to establish an ongoing series of biannual exhibitions in the 1990s that unfortunately only reached two exhibitions. However, the catalogs for the exhi
bitions?Africus (1995) and Trade Routes (1997)?are key works for the important period of South Africa in the 1990s.7 Despite their rarity, these titles are available in the out-of-print trade.
The biennial exhibitions of Europe are increasingly taking on a global presence. The African component at the Venice bien nale has become increasingly prominent over the last decade, and for the first time there was an official African pavilion in 2007. In 2002, Documenta 11 spread beyond Kassel as it extended its venues to Nigeria, India, Latin America, and the Caribbean. This year's second biennial of contemporary art in Seville, The
Unhomely: Phantom Scenes in Global Society, was curated by the prominent African art historian Okwui Enwezor.8
Acquiring Contemporary Asian Art Publications
With the breakout of China as a global economy, the market for Chinese contemporary art over the past few years has been
soaring, and not just in Asia. There is sparse information on many
of these exciting new artists. The marketplace has responded by issuing handsome auction catalogs that are works of solid
scholarship. These catalogs fill the gaps, instantly educating the
buyer through biographical information and critical commen
tary. Auction sales catalogs are crucial items to add to any Asian
contemporary collection, particularly for those sales that have taken place in Asia. These volumes can generally be acquired from dealers that specialize in auction catalogs.9
There is a specialized library with the mission of promoting Asian contemporary art by collecting and making available information on Asian art events. Founded in 2000, the Asia Art
Archive acts as a repository for material documenting contem
porary art from across Asia.10 It currently lists more than 19,300
fully cataloged records online. The records are primarily in
English and can be searched in a variety of ways, including artist, author, and institution.
The mission of the Japan Foundation (Tokyo) is to promote the arts of Japan around the world. This is achieved by spon soring artists at international art events, hosting conferences,
and by issuing publications that document these events. While the list of currently available publications is fairly modest, the
material is of high scholarly quality and is a useful addition to serious library collections. The library of the Japan Foundation acts as the shop for the foundation and is eager to supply its
material to other libraries.11
For libraries not catering to Asian specialists, language barriers can pose obstacles to collecting material that supports Asian art study. Timezone 8, which was founded by American
entrepreneur Robert Bernell, publishes high-quality art books in English that document the most important artists currently
working in China.12 It also maintains a bookstore selling not
only its own books, but also books about Chinese art from other
publishers. The quality of the books and the broad range of artists featured make these essential titles for any Asian contemporary art collection. Many Timezone 8 publications are distributed in the United States by D.A.P. (Distributed Art Publishers) and are available through commonly used distribution channels.
Acquiring Contemporary Latin American Art Publications The Museum of Modern Art (New York) has a long
established collecting policy for Latin American art. The valuable online Latin American bibliography is not currently available, but all the works on the bibliography are listed in MoMA's fully searchable DADABASE, the library's online catalog. The site also hosts the METRO-MoMA Survey of Archives of Latino and Latin American Art.
Since 2001 the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston has hosted the International Center for the Arts of the Americas (ICAA), which covers the geographic areas of Mexico, Central America, South
America, and the Caribbean.13 As a scholarly research center, the ICAA sponsors exhibitions and symposia on Latin American art and generates accompanying publications. The museum's Hirsch Library collects material to support the ICAA's mission, and its holdings are searchable in their online catalog.
A very specific Web site that deals exclusively with contem
porary art in Cuba, a major force in contemporary art of the
region, is Consejo Nacional de las Artes Pl?sticas.14 In addition to listing current and upcoming exhibitions on the island, the site also maintains a list of new and important publications dealing
14 Art Documentation ? Volume 26, Number 2 ? 2007
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with modern and contemporary Cuban art. While it does not have a book-selling component, it links to an online Cuban book
site, www.soycubano.com. Two periodicals give a good representation of art currently
being created in Central America and the Caribbean: Artecubano and Artes: la revista especializada en arte caribe?o.15 Both journals are polished, high-quality publications and have been in print since 1995 and 2001, respectively. Limited back issues are avail able for each title.
Despite their publishers' close proximity to the United
States, books from Latin America and the Caribbean can in some
ways be more difficult to acquire than books from Asia. One of the main impediments is the lack of notice for new publications. Short publication runs mean that by the time one of the key libraries receives and catalogs a book, it has probably already gone out of print. Fortunately, there are two comprehensive book dealers in the United States that offer new and out-of
print Latin American material. One is Libros Latinos, located in California.16 For years it issued lengthy printed catalogs arranged around publications from a particular country. Since this dealer is a generalist within the field of Latin American studies, these
catalogs were very dense, and the brief indexes were cumber
some to use for subject-specific collection development. Libros Latinos is now mounting these lists on its Web site and sending electronic notification when new lists are available. Such notifi
cations, coupled with direct searching on its Web site, enhance the value of this resource.
The second dealer in this area, Howard Karno Books, is also based in California.17 Although it does not deal exclusively in art books, that material is heavily represented. The Karno Web site is easy to navigate, with clear and useful book descriptions. The company quickly responds to queries. A particularly useful feature is its new titles electronic notification service. Focusing on a small number of titles at one sitting often makes the selec tion process more manageable.
Acquiring Publications for Contemporary Art of Africa and the Diaspora
Janet Stanley, the librarian for the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, has created two essential
bibliographies looking at contemporary art across the entire African continent: Modern African Art: A Basic Reading List and
Monographs on African Artists: An Annotated Bibliography.18 These rich works have descriptive annotations and are updated contin
ually, making them essential departure points in creating a new
library collection for this material. Periodicals are very important in the documentation of
contemporary art of Africa and the African Diaspora. Four
journals, each with available back issues, would complement any scholarly collection on the subject. Revue Noire ran thirty four issues from 1991 to 1999. Each issue focused on a particular geographic region or subject area. Although no longer published, issues are available individually or as grouped anthologies from the publisher's Web site.19
Art South Africa and Afrik'arts: le magazine des arts visuels are two high quality contemporary art journals that are currently being published in Africa. As the title suggests, Art South Africa2? focuses on the contemporary art being created and exhibited in South Africa. It is issued quarterly and is available from the
publisher. Afrik'arts11 has a broader mandate, extending to art
from across Africa and out to artists of the Diaspora. Afrik'arts is a new publication created by the foundation that organizes the Dak'art biennial and is available directly from it.
Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art22 is a scholarly journal that is published in conjunction with the Africana Studies and Research Center, Cornell University. It is published semi-annu
ally and has been in continuous publication since its inception in 1994. Back issues are available in paper or on CD-ROM. This is a
key journal for the growing discipline of contemporary African and Diaspora art history and criticism and should be considered an essential holding.
Of the three geographic areas considered in this article, African dealers have the strongest presence on the online dealer
aggregators. Chief among them is Collector's Treasury located in South Africa. While Collector's Treasury does not have a dedicated Web site, it does sell on AbeBooks and biblio.com. Collector's Treasury claims to have over one million items in stock in its eight-story Johannesburg store, with a new supply of books daily. It does not list all of its holdings online, but readily responds to e-mail queries. Although not exclusively an art book store, Collector's Treasury has substantial holdings in the field.
Clarke's Bookshop, also located in South Africa, is the
premier bookshop for South African art. Clarke's specializes in this area and has a subsection of its Web site devoted exclusively to this material.23 Books can be searched by keyword or browsed from a list of key artists and subjects. Titles are kept historically on the Web site. Not all books listed can be supplied by Clarke's, but many are available elsewhere in the out-of-print market.
Perhaps as a consequence of the Diaspora, there are a number
of bookstores outside of Africa that deal exclusively with African material and regularly handle art books. One advantage to using an American or European-based dealer is a faster receipt of
material. Shipping is also less expensive. One firm that generally offers books in English is Africa Book Centre in London, which sells titles that are published in Africa, as well as books that are about Africa.24 The site is keyword searchable, and there is also a
pull-down menu to search the "art and photography" section of individual countries.
Dating back to colonial relationships and interests, there are many African books published in French, as well as books about African art that are published in France. The French bookseller Soumbala carries a wide range of books in French that treat a variety of African subjects.25 Specialized subject lists can be browsed from their "catalogues th?matiques," including "arts modernes." Soumbala offers interesting and
scholarly material that is not frequently cited in contemporary African bibliographies.
Galleries specializing in contemporary African art can be
important sources for information on pertinent books. The Axis
Gallery in New York is a prime example of a multi-faceted gallery that is run by people who are passionate about their specialty.26 The owners/operators of Axis are artists and scholars from South Africa who were active in the anti-apartheid Art Resistance Movement. The store portion of the gallery's Web site has a list of important current publications on African contemporary art. As an added service, Axis maintains a list of out-of-print titles. The book stock and lists are updated regularly, and the owners
respond readily to queries.
Volume 26, Number 2 ? 2007 ? Art Documentation 15
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In some cases galleries are also prominent publishers. Bell Roberts in Cape Town is an energetic operation, with an active
gallery, design firm, bookstore, and publishing house all beneath one roof.27 In addition to exhibition catalogs, it is the publisher of the journal Art South Africa, mentioned above. Bell-Roberts maintains an e-mail list that provides regular updates on current events in the South African art world.
David Krut is another useful source, with branches in
Johannesburg and New York.28 He operates a gallery, book
store, and fine prints studio. What sets Krut apart are the artist
monographs he publishes under the series title Taxi. These books on current South African artists run about ninety pages, are well illustrated, and are written exclusively by South African scholars. At the David Krut Publications Web site, Krut lists his own publications on contemporary South African art and artists, as well as related material published in the United States, South
Africa, and elsewhere.
Conclusion
Building a new collection can be time consuming, challenging, and at times frustrating. However, the growth of Internet "global" commerce makes this the ideal time to begin collecting contemporary material published in Asia, Latin
America, or Africa.
The experience will be highly rewarding for both the collec tion's holdings and the librarian.
Notes 1. In 2005, Research and Academic Programs at the Clark
received a multi-year grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foun dation to assist the Institute in achieving greater geographic and cultural diversity within its fellowship program and to
sponsor new invitational colloquia with a global perspective. A
portion of the funds was designated to support the acquisition of library material in underrepresented areas. It was decided to focus on expanding the collection dealing with contemporary art by concentrating on materials being published about Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia, and Africa and the African Diaspora.
2. InlVA's library and publications listed can be accessed from www.iniva.org.
3. The English version of the German-based Web site Universes in Universe can be found online at www.universes-in-universe.de / english.htm.
4. One of Asia Art Archive's online projects is the aptly titled All You Want to Know About International Art Bien nials (www.aaa.org.hk/onlineprojects/bitri/en/index.asp). Found here is a linked list of ongoing biennials, as well as a historical list of biennials by date founded, and a facts section that compares statistics and provides notes on how biennials
operate. In conjunction with the 52nd Biennale di Venezia (2007), curator Robert Storr organized the symposium "Where Art Worlds Meet: Multiple Modernities and the Global Salon" which looked at the changing role of international biennial exhibitions.
5. Lists of ongoing biennial exhibitions and links to the event Web sites are found at the Caravan section of Universes in Universe, www.universes-in-universe.de/car/english.htm, and at the Asia Art Archive (see note 4).
6. The official Web site for the Dak'Art biennial is
www.dakart.org. Most of the catalogs for past exhibitions
can be ordered from this site. 7. Africus: But is It Art? (Johannesburg: Transitional
Metropolitan Council, 1995); Trade Routes: History and
Geography (Johannesburg: Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Council, 1997).
8. Okwui Enwezor, The Unhomely: Phantom Scenes in Global
Society (Seville: Fundaci?n Bienal Internacional de Arte Contempor?neo de Sevilla, 2006).
9. Jeffrey Eger Auction Catalogues maintains a large and diverse inventory of international auction catalogs. They are particularly helpful in building a collection around a subject area.
10. The Asia Art Archive's search page may be found at w ww. aaa. or g.hk / search_advance. aspx.
11. The list of publications available from the Japan Foundation is found at www.jpf.go.jp/e/jfic/lib/shop.html.
12. The Web site for Timezone 8 is www.timezone8. com/en. A publisher search at the D.A.P. Web site (www. artbook.com) brings up a list of the Timezone 8 publications they distribute in the United States.
13. For a fuller description of The International Center for the Arts of the Americas, see
www.mfah.org/main.
asp?target=icaa. 14. See the Consejo Nacional de las Artes Pl?sticas Web site
(www. cnap. cult .cu / pubs-2 .html) for a list of pertinent Cuban
publications. 15. Artecubano: revista de artes visuales (Havana:
Artecubano Editores del Consejo Nacional de las Artes Pl?sticas, Ministerio de Cultura, Rep?blica de Cuba, 1995- ); Artes: la revista especializada en arte caribe?o (Santo Domingo: Umbrales del Arte, 2006- ), which continues Artes en Santo
Domingo (Santo Domingo: Umbrales del Arte, 2001-2005). 16. The online catalog for Libros Latinos is found at
www.libroslatinos.com.
17. The online catalog for Howard Karno Books is found at www.karnobooks.com.
18. Stanley's bibliographies can be found at www.sil. si.edu / SILPublications / Modern African Art / newmaa.cfm and at www. sil. si .edu / SILPublications / Modern African Ar t /
monographs_main.cfm. 19. Revue Noire (Paris: Editions Bleu Outremer, 1991-1999).
Individual copies of the journal, as well as other publications on
contemporary African art, can be purchased from the ?ditions Revue Noire Web site: www.revuenoire.com. The Web site
also contains full-text essays about contemporary African art and artists.
20. Art South Africa (Cape Town: Brendon Bell-Roberts, 2002- ).
21. Afrik'arts: le magazine des arts visuels (Dakar: Dak'Art, 2005- ).
22. Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art (Brooklyn: NKA Publications, 1994- ). For further details on the journal and subscription information see www.asrc.cornell.edu/Nka/
intro.html.
23. The South African art subsection of the Clarke's
Bookshop Web site may be found at www.clarkesbooks.co.za / artbooks/.
16 Art Documentation ? Volume 26, Number 2 ? 2007
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24. Africa Book Centre's online catalog is at www.africabookcentre.com.
25. Soumbala's online catalog is at www.soumbala.com.
See "catalogues th?matiques "
for the specialized list of modern art titles.
26. The book portion of the Axis Gallery's Web site is found at www.axisgallery.com / store / index.html.
27. The Bell-Roberts Web site is www.bell-roberts.com.
28. See www.davidkrutpublishing.com for a full list of
contemporary African art books.
Terri Boccia, Acquisitions Librarian,
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, [email protected]
New from Art Libraries Society of North America Occasional Paper No. 16 Co-Published with the Scarecrow Press
336 p., 90 illustrations Cloth: $75.00, Paper: $45.00 Go to www.scarecrowpress.com to order.
Go to www.arlisna.org for information.
Volume 26, Number 2 ? 2007 ? Art Documentation 17
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