The reshaping of African culture by Western technology is examined in a new exhibition opening Feb. 6 at San Francisco’s Museum of the African Diaspora. “Africa.Dot.Com: Drums to Digital” pays particular attention to the way that cell phones and the Internet are dramatically changing the daily lives of people across the African continent, and tweaking centuries-old traditions. And the show’s organizers expect it will help clear up the misperception that Africa, and its people, are somehow behind the times.   

“We’re all familiar with Africa’s problems from watching the news,” says guest curator Deborah Stokes, who first curated the show for Columbia College Chicago’s Black History Month. “But what people don’t realize is that health issues and poverty and political instability don’t stop people from evolving.”    

Stokes says it was clear to her during a visit to Africa in 2005 that, even in regions considered “third world,” nothing can slow technology’s momentum.   

“Cell phones are ubiquitous [in Africa],” she explains. “They’re everywhere, even in really remote areas. Masai herdsmen are using cell phones to set prices for their cattle. They’re calling into the nearest city to find out what the going rate is at market. They’re using them to do their banking online. The future of Africa is really a wireless continent. They use [cell phones] for everything we use them for. And I should mention that the phones are quite chic-looking.”    

Stokes says that cell phone users in Africa have even developed their own text-messaging lingo.

But not only are cell phones and the Internet linking tribes and villages with each other for the purposes of business and everyday communication; they’re also allowing African artists to share ideas across borders, and to reach audiences elsewhere on the continent and around the world.    

So, it was only a matter of time before technology’s social impact would spill over into the arts. And Stokes reports that technology has already begun to appear as a common theme in the work of African artisans.   

“You’ll see images of cell phones and satellite dishes a lot in textiles or carved out of wood or woven into basketry,” she says. “Someone actually commissioned a coffin in the shape of a Nokia cell phone. A lot of the traditions, like calling on your ancestors for help, are still readily practiced. But sacred art, which is what people tend to associate with Africa, is starting to subside.”   

At first glance, a traditional woman’s garment decorated with the image of a flip-phone may seem like a pronouncement of wealth or status. But Stokes insists it means much more than that to the wearer.   

“Wearing that garment is a declaration to others, ‘I am a modern woman. I know about these modern things.’ It’s about identity. And I think that’s important because we don’t identify Africa with being a modern, contemporary society, which it is. So, this exhibition will challenge what viewers think they know about Africa.”        

Africa.Dot.Com: Drums to Digital: Museum of the African Diaspora, 685 Mission St. (near 3rd); Feb. 6 through June 1; admission: $10/adults, $5/students & seniors, free for children 12 and under; 415-358-7200, www.moadsf.org.