The curators and authors of the catalogue about Bermuda's new African art collection spent last week educating locals on their newly acquired treasure.

And Mary Nooter Roberts and her husband Allen Roberts told The Royal Gazette that Bermuda's first permanent collection of African art -- which went on display at the National Gallery last weekend -- was fabulous.

"It is an eclectic mix of objects from west and central Africa, primarily focusing on sculptures,'' Dr. Mary Roberts explained. "It focuses on traditional African art, masks and sculptures. There is a nice array of various styles and forms in African art.'' Dr. Roberts, a senior curator at the Museum for African Art for ten years, not only made a personal donation to the collection, but she and her husband wrote the catalogue for the collection.

"We had been thinking about it for several months over the course of the summer,'' she said. "The hard core writing was done in the last month.'' The pair said they were prompted into donating their time after hearing about the widespread enthusiasm for the collection.

"When (Gallery curator) Laura Gorham described to us how this collection was being promoted and how the community was buying it,'' Dr. Mary Roberts explained, "it was such an inspiring way to bring about a collection. We were very excited to see the initial response and the fact that Secrecy had left a legacy that really fostered a sense of enthusiasm and interest to learn more.'' In addition, the Roberts trained volunteers (docents) on the pieces and lectured the public on African art.

The docents transfer the information they learned from the Roberts to the public so they would know the purpose behind the pieces.

Dr. Mary Roberts, who has taught African art history at Columbia University and Swarthmore College, has a Ph.D. in art history from Columbia.

She is a consulting editor to African Arts magazine and the author of a catalogue for the Detroit Institute of Art's permanent collection of African art.

Dr. Allen Roberts is a professor of Anthropology and African American World Studies, director of the African studies programme and co-director of the Project for Advanced Study of Art and Life in Africa at the University of Iowa.

The couple said the public lectures would focus on the history behind the collection, plus five additional sections that would address the five primary themes in the exhibition.

The themes are celebration of women in society, celebration of leadership and rule, the changing values and cultural resilience (how the function of a piece of art had changed due to social circumstances) and how the art represents animals, celebrates nature and the human/animal relationship.

And Dr. Allen Roberts said he would also give a talk on animals in African art.

"Several objects in the collection are of animals,'' he said. "I plan to explore why animals are a common theme in African art. The animals that most North Americans associate with Africa are rarely shown in the art. I will examine why only certain animals are in the art.'' They will also discuss thetitle of the collection, Celebration, which they felt had double meaning.

"The title lends itself to how Africans celebrated life and how Bermudians celebrate their heritage,'' said Dr. Mary Roberts, adding that she will also lecture on her area of expertise, the Luba culture and the people of Zaire.

The collection has one piece of Luba art.

The duo said they hoped to increase people's awareness and understanding of the complexity and richness of African art.

"But our goal has been recognised already,'' Dr. Allen Roberts said. "You have already acquired the objects and there is an interest to learn about the art here.'' "There is a connection (with African art) here,'' Dr.Mary Roberts added.

"People can come here to appreciate and learn. The art works are a point of reference to learn from. Children are getting an appreciation of African art and other cultures that aren't filled with misconceptions.'' Her husband said there was little opportunity in the US for children to learn about Africa.

"What they do learn is usually wrong,'' he explained. "For example, Africa is portrayed as one country when in fact there are 50-something countries and 2,000 languages. Africa is a place of differences rather than similarities.''