Current Exhibitions

Passages: Photographs of Africa by Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher
November 15, 2008 – April 19, 2009

Presented in large format color photographs, photographers Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher’s images of African ritual practices are vivid, rich, intimate and intense. This dynamic exhibition of images from around the African continent is divided into six themes: Coming of Age, Courtship and Marriage, Beliefs and Worship, Masks and Masquerades, Royalty and Power, and Spirits and Ancestors. Six videos bring to life the song, dance and movement of related ceremonies and, objects of personal adornment similar to those as in the photographs will be included. Three-dimensional objects from the Bowers Museum’s permanent collection of African objects will also be on display. Beckwith and Fisher have traveled and lived within Africa together and independently over the last thirty years prolifically documenting tradition and ceremony.

Masters of Adornment: The Miao People of China
November 15, 2008 – ongoing

This important collection of exquisite textiles and silver jewelry on loan to and from the Bowers Museum’s permanent collection highlights the beauty and wealth of the Miao peoples of southwest China. Symbols of status and culture, the elaborate textiles in this exhibition include finely pleated skirts, complex batik pattered cloth, intricate silk embroidery and shining textiles woven with metal. Over 50 examples of ornately designed and created silver bracelets, necklaces and decorative ornaments compliment and complete the exhibition of late 19th and 20th century Miao regalia. More than an examination of masterful techniques and beautiful style these objects reveal hundreds of years of Miao history and tradition and, the patience and dedication to achieve beauty.

American Quilts: Two Hundred Years of Tradition
September 20, 2008 – March 15, 2009

Approximately 30 quilts from the Bowers Museum collection will be on exhibit, many for the first time, in the first exhibition focused on this important collection of American quilts dating from the 18th -20th centuries. A variety of techniques and styles will be displayed including fine examples of Crazy Quilts, pieced together with elaborate materials, an unusual Jacobean quilted bedcover depicting a Tree of Life made in 1776, a child’s quilt created from tobacco flannels which were given as premiums with the purchase of cigarettes in the early 20th century, a late 19th century quilt made in Indiana with the insignias of  Grand Army of the Republic regiments from the Spanish American War, and two quilts composed of the fragments of opera star Madame Schumann – Heink’s dresses worn during her performances.

Permanent Exhibitions

Ancient Arts of China: A 5000 Year Legacy
Curated by authorities of Chinese history and culture from the Shanghai Museum, this incredible collection portrays the evolution of Chinese technology, art and culture utilizing rare examples of bronze vessels, mirrors, polychrome potteries, sculptures, porcelains, paintings, ivory carvings and robes.

California Legacies

The California Legacies exhibit at the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art features many displays of California and Orange County history that are must-sees for California students and residents alike. Among other things, visitors to the exhibit can view this statue of Saint Anthony, which was carved in Mexico in 1801. The statue was purchased by the Mission San Juan Capistrano for 60 pesos and displayed in the Mission's Serra Chapel. After the secularization of the California missions, the statue was given to Don Bernando Yorba, the son of the recipient of the first Spanish land grant in Orange County, Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana.

California, The Golden Years

California, The Golden Years highlights the museum's spectacular collection of plein air paintings. This exhibit focuses on 56 landscapes, figure pieces and still lifes produced by California artists between 1875 and 1955, with most works coming from the period 1915 to 1935.

First Californians

This new installation showcases the Bowers' extensive permanent collection of Native American art and artifacts in stone, shell, plant fiber (through spectacular basketry) and feathers. These primary resources help tell the story of the culture of Native Californians. Although groups from all regions of California are represented in the exhibit, special attention is placed on local groups that inhabited the coastal regions of Southern California. The Boeing Company funded a teacher resources guide to accompany this exhibit. This guide is available in the Gallery Store.

Vision of the Shaman, Song of the Priest

Pre-Columbian art from Mexico, Central and South America has been at the heart of the Bowers for many years. A series of galleries communicates the power and sophistication of the mysterious cultures that rose and fell in ancient America.