High Museum's African art curator picks her top pieces from the collection

Timbuktu Quran
Ancient Bankoni terracotta from Mali
Many faces
Mami Wati
Light and Shade
Bird of a Feather
Yoruba water spirit
Water Spirit
Yoruba blue vessel
I Shall Wear a Crown
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We asked Lauren Tate Baeza, the High Museum's new curator of African art to select her top pieces in the collection and to talk about why they are important. First up: Unidentified Artist, in Timbuktu, Mali, created this Quran sometime in the 16th and 18th centuries. Baeza said this is a companion piece to the terra cotta figure, also from ancient Mali: “Another object in the collection from Mali that is reflective of its rich past as a flourishing empire of great wealth and commercial activity and an important religious, cultural and educational center.”