ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

     In traditional African societies, music,
dance, theater and other performing and visual arts
have always been integral aspects of daily
religious and social life.  Individuals or groups
who excelled in the performing arts played leading
roles in public rituals and ceremonies.  Visual
artists--sculptors, metal workers, carvers, weavers
and others--who transformed organic and inorganic
materials into exquisite objects and symbols of
social and cultural meaning were also appreciated
for their creative genius.

     In modern times, many African and African
diasporan visual and performing artists have built
on, extended and/or transformed the cultural
traditions in which they work.  Some have adapted
the forms of cultural expression previously linked
to traditional social and religious purposes to
respond to the rewards (and opportunities) of the
commercial market place.  Others have expropriated
the forms of artistic expression prevalent in the
global cultural economy.  As a consequence, African
peoples on the continent and in the diaspora have
assumed increasingly prominent creative roles in
modern world music, dance, literature, theater and
the fine arts.  They have also played pioneering
roles and excelled in radio, television, film,
sports and other entertainment fields.

     The Schomburg Center collects print and
non-print research resources which document the
presence of blacks in the artistic and
entertainment spheres of human endeavor.
Collections range from the personal papers of
writers Julian Mayfield and Larry Neal to the
records of the American Negro Theater and the Negro
Ensemble Company.  Organizational records of arts
and social organizations such as the Negro Actors
Guild and the American Bridge Association provide
insights into the lives of the organizations as
well as their members.  The Arthur Ashe Hard Road
to Glory research collection is an invaluable
resource for the study of African Americans in
American sports.  The CEBA collection updates the
Center's holding's documenting the images of blacks
in radio, television and advertising.  The
collection also complements the Center's film,
video tape and other audio-visual media holdings.