add to our listings
The African Art Museum of the SMA Fathers at Tenafly, New Jersey is one of five museums around the world founded and maintained by the Society of African Missions (SMA), an international Roman Catholic missionary organization that serves the people of Africa.
The museums continue the vision of SMA’s founder, Bishop Melchior de Marion Brésillac (1813-1859). The French-born clergyman urged his Society to respect and preserve the culture of the peoples they serve, the unique vision among missionaries of his time.
Established in 1980, the Tenafly museum is one of only a rare few in the United States dedicated solely to the arts of Africa. Its permanent collections, exhibited on a rotating basis, offer a unique advantage in the study and research of sub-Saharan sculpture and painting, costumes, textiles and decorative arts, religion and folklore.
Working with Museum Director Bob Koenig and installation/photography expert Peter H. Cade, returning SMA Lay Missionary Sean Hogan seeks to convey his love for this West African country, gleaned from four years of service there, in an exhibition teeming with color and information. He is often available to answer questions.
Hours are 8AM-5PM seven days a week. Admission is free, though donations are always welcome.
The museum is located at 23 Bliss Ave., Tenafly, NJ.
One of only three such museums known to exist in the country, the African Art Museum at Tenafly chronicles an SMA missionary presence in Africa that has now reached 155 years. Nowadays Christian/Muslim tensions compound the challenges of everyday living in such places as Nigeria, where SMA Fathers face personal dangers in the course of fulfilling their missions.
Write a Review
