African Celebrations of Culture will introduce patrons to the music, fashion and history of many African nations.,”Friday and Saturday the Milwaukee Public Museum, 800 W. Wells St., will be marching to the beat of a different drum, while singing and dancing along.

African Celebrations of Culture will introduce patrons to the music, fashion and history of many African nations. The event lasts from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. both days.

The Celebrations of Culture series has been sponsored by Miller Brewing Co. since 1990, said Art Montgomery, public programming coordinator at the MPM. The range of talent at African Celebrations of Culture includes everything from the performing arts to hand crafting.

"Adekola Adedapo is an exceptional artist and performer," Montgomery said. "She will perform stories, dance and music from all areas of Africa on Friday, and focuses on West African Yoruba creation stories Saturday."

Montgomery said the celebration also features the traditional African dolls of Ugandan Rose Onama.

While some parts of the event are displays like Onama's dolls, other facets of African Celebrations of Culture are interactive, Montgomery said.

"Children's crafts will include beaded bracelets," Montgomery said. "We'll use etched, straw and colored beads. They'll make Kente Cloths, with origins dating back to Western Africa, 300 A.D. But we'll emphasize styles common since the 1700s."

Carrie Trousil, communications specialist for the museum, said Celebrations of Culture events were originally geared toward school groups and families but have proven popular with many different audiences.

"With the music performers, the atmosphere is really cool," she said. "The events take place on the first floor, but a person can hear the music and clapping throughout the museum, even in our offices."

According to Trousil, Djembe drums (hand held instruments made out of wood and animal skin) will be played on the third floor of the museum, home of the African exhibits.

Trousil said one highlight of this weekend's event is a display of artifacts, such as pottery, tools, weapons and jewelry, which are usually not available to the public.

According to Montgomery, these pieces are original museum artifacts from an expedition to what are now Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania in 1828.

"You can't touch them, but you can get really close to some objects," Trousil said. "You will see an in depth history of the object that you could not normally see just by looking in a case. Or, the object just wasn't on display before the event."

Trousil said many patrons assume that everything a museum curates is viewable to the public, but this is not true.

"The bulk of our objects are actually not on display," she said. "A lot of research and restoration goes on here, so not everything we have is out on display."

This year the museum also will host Latino Celebrations of Culture (April 25-26) and Asian Celebrations of Culture (June 6-7).

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