Carl Van Vechten photographs of performers in Asadata Dafora's "Kykunkor"
Overview
Carl Van Vechten photographs of performers in Asadata Dafora's African musical drama, "Kykunkor".
Dates
- Creation: circa 1934
Condition Description
In good condition
Conditions Governing Access
Open for research.
Extent
.04 linear feet (1 box)Collection of seven photographs by Carl Van Vechten of performers in the African dance drama "Kyukunkor" by Sierra Leonean choreographer, dancer, and composer Asadata Dafora. Several of the photographs are annotated with the names of the performers, among them, Dafora. All photographs are blind stamped "Photograph by Carl Van Vechten".
Other named performers are Abrodun Salako, Mdo Eno, and Inguese (Chief Burah).
Biographical / Historical
Kykunkor (The Witch Woman), an African musical drama featuring African music and dance, was created by Asadata Dafora; it concerned courtship and marriage in Sierra Leone.
Carl Van Vechten was an American writer and photographer who was a patron of the Harlem Renaissance.
Asadata Dafora, born in Sierra Leone, was a choreographer, composer, dancer, and singer. He is credited with helping to bring African drumming and dance to the United States.
Arrangement
Arranged as received.
Custodial History
Ownership prior to this acquisition is unknown.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
2022MT-10. Purchased from Alexanderplatz Books with the Howard D. Rothschild Bequest, 2021 August 9.
Processing Information
Processed minimally by Melanie Wisner, 2021 August.
Topical
Subject
- Dafora, Asadata, 1890-1965 (Person)
- Title
- Van Vechten, Carl, 1880-1964. Carl Van Vechten photographs of performers in Asadata Dafora's "Kykunkor", circa 1934 (MS Thr 2138): Guide
- Status
- completed
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard University
- Date
- 2021 August 27
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- eng
- EAD ID
- hou04545
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.
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