ABFF award for Artistic Achievement in Film awarded to Bill Duke: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Acapulco Black Film Festival (ABFF) inaugural award for Artistic Achievement in Film awarded to Bill Duke on June 28, 1997. The trophy, designed by artist Cheryl R. Riley, is an abstract sculpture on a round base, primarily constructed from wood with metal and metallic paint finishes. The sculpture is a 3D rendering of the ABFF logo, which resembles a stylized half rayed-sun with a half of an eye at the center. The sun's rays lengthen towards the top of the sculpture. The rays and the exterior rim of the sun are brown, and the textured interior of the sun and the eye outline are painted gold. The sculpture sits on a drum shaped base that resembles a film reel wrapped with film. The filmstrip images are represented by gold painted squares. There are round metal tacks along the bottom of the base and small metal tacks along the top of the base. A gold plaque mounted to the front of the award is embossed with black text in varying sized fonts that read [ACAPULCO BLACK / FILM FESTIVAL / Artistic Achievement in Film / Bill Duke /June 28, 1997 / Acapulco, Mexico]. The artist’s signature, year, and edition number are engraved in gold ink on the bottom of the trophy: [Cheryl R. Riley / ? / 1997 / #2].

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1997
• Designed by: Cheryl R. Riley, American
• Issued by: American Black Film Festival, American, founded 1997
• Received by: Bill Duke, American, born 1943
• Type: trophies (prizes)
• Medium: paint on wood with metal
• Dimensions: H x W x D: 13 × 4 15/16 × 5 13/16 in. (33 × 12.6 × 14.7 cm)
• Place used: Acapulco de Juárez, Guerrero, Mexico, Latin America, North and Central America
• Place made: San Francisco, California, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Arts and music festivals
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Holidays and festivals
• Object number: 2019.55.1
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Jeff & Nicole Friday, and Cheryl R. Riley
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Cheryl R. Riley Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.