Collections & Research Staff
Silvia Forni
Associate Curator
B.A. (Laurea), Philosophy, University of Turin, Italy, 1993
M.A., Cultural Anthropology, Indiana University, IN., 1996
Ph.D., Cultural Anthropology, University of Turin, Italy, 2001
Dr. Silvia Forni is Associate Curator of Anthropology in the ROM’s Department of World Cultures. Prior to her official appointment, Dr. Forni had the chance to work on the labels and text of the African section of the Shreyas and Mina Ajmera Gallery of Africa, the Americas and the Asia Pacific, designed by consultant curator Michael Levine.
Before Dr. Forni’s arrival at the ROM in 2008, she taught anthropology of art at the University of Turin, Italy and was a consultant curator for ethnographic displays and temporary exhibitions. Her research focuses on the significance of art objects and material culture as part of a network of exchange that has played a crucial role in defining regional cultural identity in sub-Saharan Africa. Her interests have brought her to the Ndop Plain (North West Province - Cameroon) to explore pottery production and supported her participation in cooperative projects and research in various African countries. Her research interests cover a range of topics such as gender, religion, and social change in different African setting and have been published in both English and Italian.
Recent Publications
| 2007 | Il ventre e la pentola. Ceramiche, genere e società nei Grassfields del Camerun. (The womb and the pot: Ceramics, gender and society in the Grassfields of Cameroon) Torino. Il Segnalibro. |
| 2007 | “Dal tesoro al museo. Percorsi e strategie di musealizzazione in Camerun Occidentale” (From Treasures to Museums. Itineray and strategies of museumification in Western Cameroon). Africa e mediterraneo 2-3/07 (60-61). |
| 2007 | “Performance, politica e genere in alcune società femminili africane.” (Performance, politics and gender in some African female associations), Molimo 3, Università degli Studi di Milano. |
| 2007 | “La prova del fuoco. Tecniche e significati di una tradizione ceramica contemporanea (Babessi, Camerun)” (Test of fire: Techniques and meanings of a contemporary pottery tradition). In M.L. Ciminelli (ed) Nuovi approcci in antropologia dell’arte. Rome, Liguori. |
| 2007 | “Modellare la differenza. Tecnologia ceramica e genere a Nsei (Camerun)” (Molding difference: Technology, ceramic and gender in Nsei), Molimo 2, Università degli Studi di Milano. |
| 2007 | Containers of life: Pottery and Social Relations in the Grassfields (Cameroon). African Arts 40(1). |
| 2006 | (ed, with Cecilia Pennacini and Chiara Pussetti), Antropologia, genere, riproduzione. La costruzione culturale della femminilità (Anthropology, gender, reproduction: The social construction of femininity), Rome: Carocci. |
| 2006 | Mogli ribelli, corpi contesi. Rituali funebri e sepolture in un villaggio della piana di Ndop (Camerun nordoccidentale)” (Rebellious wives, contested bodies: Funeral ritual and burials in a village of the Ndop Plain) in F. Remotti (ed) Morte e trasformazione dei corpi. Interventi di Tanatometamorfosi, Milano: Bruno Mondadori. |
| 2005 | “Molding Success and Political Power: Painted Clay Figurines from the Northern Grassfields (Cameroon)”, Archiv für Völkerkunde 55: 43-60. |
| 2005 | “La donna come contenitore. Produzione ceramica, genere ed emozioni nel regno di Babessi” (Woman as container: Pottery production, gender and emotions in the kingdom of Babessi), Antropologia 6: 111-127. |
Publications List (PDF)
Galleries
Shreyas and Mina Ajmera Gallery of Africa, the Americas and Asia-Pacific
ROM Images
Africa
Other Links
New Stories - Africa, Americas & Asia-Pacific
Contact Information
Department of World Cultures
Royal Ontario Museum
100 Queen's Park
Toronto, ON
M5S 2C6
Fax: 416.586.5877
E-mail: World Cultures
Dr. Silvia Forni
Dr. Silvia Forni with artist Seni Awa Camara, Bignona, Senegal, May 2008. Photo by Kinsey Katcka
