THE TIEFING COLLECTION - HISTORY

What is The Tiefing Collection?
The Tiefing Collection is a private assemblage of African and South Pacific artifacts acquired by Curator, Rufus T. Stevenson.  These exotic works of art came into Mr. Stevenson’s possession over 2 decades ago while he worked and traveled throughout Africa.  While on these travels, Mr. Stevenson  witnessed the immeasurable beauty of the vast artistry of the African people.  He savored the powerful African Spirit through their artistic craftsmanship.  He felt the need to share this beauty with Americans – particularly African Americans.

Origins and Meaning of Tiefing
In 1975, the brainchild for The Tiefing Collection was born.  While working with the first televised drought in the Republic of Mali, West Africa, witnessing the devastation to human conditions, the zeitgeist (intellectual, moral and cultural state at that time), and the cultural disparities in existence, Mr. Stevenson was moved to salvage what he could, to share with his fellow Americans.  From the deepest region of the Congo (The Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly Zaire) to the arid lands of the Sahara Desert (Mali) -- from the Islands of Southern Africa (The Malagasy Republic) to ancient Polynesia in the South Pacific (the Kingdom of Tonga) -- The Tiefing Collection was born.  The artistic pieces of the Collection were acquired under the West African Bambara, proper name, “Tiefing” (pronounced Che-Fin).  In West African dialect, “Tie” means “man” and “Fing” means “African or Black.”

Promoting a Labor of Love
When Rufus T. Stevenson returned to the United States, he began promoting African culture to those interested.  He did this by displaying and explaining the African art pieces and textiles amassed during his travels.  Rufus  T. Stevenson has shared The Tiefing Collection by exhibiting it as a dressing at the Millennium Stage and Concert Hall at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.  The Tiefing Collection has also been exhibited at the Lincoln Theater, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and at various churches and schools, including the Metropolitan A.M.E. Church, Greater New Hope Baptist and 19th Street Baptist Church.

Biographic Sketch: Mr. Rufus T. Stevenson
Rufus T. Stevenson, is a graduate of Morehouse College (Atlanta, Georgia) and is an Africanist who studied at the School of Advanced International Studies, The Johns Hopkins University.  He has worked and traveled throughout the African continent as a Peace Corps volunteer, a Department of State employee and as a private citizen.  He is the Founder and Executive Vice President of JAH KENTE INTERNATIONAL, INC., a NON-PROFIT 501(C)3 Organization in the District of Columbia with a mission to nourish and promote the cultural spirit of Africans in the Disapora.