NARRATOR: This mask is different from every other mask in this gallery… because it would have been worn and performed by a woman. Female masking performances are rare in Africa. The Sowei mask plays an important role in the all-female Sande Society. This society is a lifelong network of women among the Vai, Mende and neighboring peoples in present-day Sierra Leone.

CHRISTRAUD GEARY: Now if you look at the Portuguese soldier, there are certain details that I don’t want you to miss. One is that everything is articulated in the greatest detail. Look at his hands, they’re beautifully done, and look at the fact that you can see his fingernails, even. Look at his feet, same thing, they’re beautifully executed.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, has been an internationally renowned art museum, a key educator, and an essential contributor to our city and region…

RONNI BAER: When I first looked at this painting in the context of this exhibition, I asked myself, “How can we tell the difference between a mistress…

My Identity is a personal and political self-portrait. Through four photographs, it suggests that even as the artist experiences 20th- and 21st…

Well before American women had the right to vote, some used quilts to express their political persuasion. This expertly pieced composition features an…

This coin, known as the Eid Mar or "Ides of March," is the most historically and politically significant in the MFA’s distinctive collection of more…

The forthcoming anniversary of the World War I Armistice, known as Veterans Day, presents an opportunity to pause and reconsider war’s costs and…

This photograph dates from the early days of the medium, and is one of the first examples of the political use of photography. It was taken by Joseph…