African art

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African art is any form of art or material culture that originates from the continent of Africa. This article discusses primarily visual art; for information on African music, see Music of Africa.

The arts and material culture of the African continent constitute one of the most diverse and innovative artistic legacies on the planet. Though many casual observers tend to generalize "traditional" African art, the continent is actually full of a multitude of peoples, societies, and civilizations, each with a unique visual culture.

Despite this diversity, there are some unifying artistic themes when considering the totality of visual culture from the continent of Africa.<ref>Blier, Suzanne: "Africa, Art, and History: An Introduction" in Visona, Poynor, Cole, and Harris: "A History of Art in Africa", pages 15-19. Prentice Hall, 2001</ref>

Utilitarianism: An overarching characteristic of tradtional African art is that it is utilitarian. It is more than ornamental; it is intended to be used. Everyday items such as hair combs, bowls, knives, stools and textiles are objects of art, often adorned with representations of human, animal and supernatural forms, ancestral figures, geometric patterns, cowrie shells, spiritual symbols, raffia and vibrant colors.

Formal Innovation: Unlike Western societies, where artworks tend to be produced according to strict canons of representation, many African societies encourage innovation and creativity of both style and form among their artists. This innovation and diversity can be seen not only across long expanses of time and geography, but also in nearby cities and towns.

Visual Abstraction: African artworks tend to favor visual abstraction over naturalistic representation. This is because many African artworks, regardless of medium, tend to represent objects or ideas rather than depict them. Even the so-called portrait heads of Ile-Ife in modern day Nigeria, usually thought of as naturalistic representations of rulers, have actually been smoothed and simplified in an effort to abstract and generalize stylistic norms. <ref>Blier, Suzanne: "Africa, Art, and History: An Introduction" in Visona, Poynor, Cole, and Harris: "A History of Art in Africa", p. 16. Prentice Hall, 2001</ref> Ancient Egyptian art, also usually thought of as naturalistically depictive, makes use of highly abstracted and regimented visual canons, especially in painting, as well as the use of different colors to represent the qualities and characteristics of an individual being depicted. <ref>Visona, Poynor, Cole, and Harris: "A History of Art in Africa", p. 49. Prentice Hall, 2001</ref>

Emphasis on Sculpture: African artists tend to favor three-dimensional artworks over two-dimensional works. Even many African paintings or cloth works were meant to be experienced three-dimensionally. House paintings are often seen as a continuous design wrapped around a house, forcing the viewer to walk around the work to experience it fully; while decorated cloths are worn as decorative or ceremonial garments, transforming the wearer into a living sculpture.

Emphasis on Performance Art: An extension of the utilitarianism and three-dimensionality of traditional African art is the fact that much of it is crafted for use in performance contexts, rather than in static ones. For example, masks and costumes very often are used in communal, ceremonial contexts, where they are "danced." Most societies in Africa have names for their masks, but this single name incorporates not only the sculpture, but also the meanings of the mask, the dance associated with it, and the spirits that reside within. In African thought, the three cannot be differentiated.

Multiplicity of Meaning: Symbols and forms in African art are typically intended to represent different things to different members of society, depending on age, gender, education, or social status. This is in contrast to "Western" Christian iconographic traditions where a symbol is typically linked with only one meaning (for example the cross as a symbol of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.)

1 Area of influence
2 History
3 Influence on Western art
4 Traditional art
5 Contemporary art
6 By country
7 Notes
8 External links

[edit] Area of influence

African art has a long and surprisingly controversial history. Up until recently, the designation "African" was usually only bestowed on the arts of Black Africa, i.e., the cultures and peoples living in sub-Saharan Africa. The non-black peoples of North, the blacks of the Horn of Africa, as well as the art of Ancient Egypt, generally were not included under the rubric of African art. Recently, however, there has been a movement among African art historians and other scholars to include the visual culture of these areas, since all the cultures that produced them, in fact, are located within the geographic boundaries of the African continent. The notion is that by including all African cultures and their visual culture in African art, laypersons will gain a greater understanding of the continent's cultural diversity. Since there was often a confluence of traditional African, Islamic and Mediterranean cultures, scholars have found that drawing distinct divisions among Islam, ancient Egypt, the Mediterranean, and traditional African societies makes little sense. Finally, the arts of the people of the African diaspora, prevalent in Brazil, the Caribbean, and the southeastern United States, have also begun to be included in the study of African art as products of the African diaspora.

[edit] History

The origins of African art lie long before recorded history. African rock art in the Sahara in Niger preserves 6000-year-old carvings [1]. The earliest known sculptures are from the Nok culture of Nigeria, made around 500 BCE. Along with sub-Saharan Africa, the cultural arts of the western tribes, ancient Egyptian artifacts, and indigenous southern crafts also contributed greatly to African art. Often depicting the abundance of surrounding nature, the art was often abstract interpretations of animals, plant life, or natural designs and shapes.

More complex methods of producing art were developed sub-Saharan Africa around the 10th century, some of the most notable advancements include the bronzework of Igbo Ukwu and the terracottas and metalworks of Ile ife Bronze and brass castings, often ornamented with ivory and precious stones, became highly prestigious in much of West Africa, sometimes being limited to the work of court artisans and identified with royalty, as with the Benin Bronzes.

[edit] Influence on Western art

At the start of the twentieth century, artists like Picasso, Matisse and Modigliani became aware of, and inspired by, African art. In a situation where the established avant garde was straining against the constraints imposed by serving the world of appearances, African Art demonstrated the power of supremely well organised forms; produced not only by responding to the faculty of sight, but also and often primarily, the faculty of imagination, emotion and mystical and religious experience. These artists saw in African Art a formal perfection and sophistication unified with phenomenal expressive power. The study of and response to African Art, by artists at the beginning of the twentieth century facilitated an explosion of interest in the abstraction, organisation and reorganisation of forms, and the exploration of emotional and psychological areas hitherto unseen in Western Art. By these means, the status of visual art was changed. Art ceased to be merely and primarily aesthetic, but became also a true medium for philosophic and intellectual discourse, and hence more truly and profoundly aesthetic than ever before.

[edit] Traditional art

Traditional art describes the most popular and studied forms of African art which are typically found in museum collections. Wooden masks, which might either be human or animal, are one of the most commonly found forms of art in western Africa. In their original contexts, ceremonial masks are used by actors and dancers in religious, political or social performances. Ivory; animal hair; plant fibers, such as raffia; pigments, like kaolin; stones; and semi-precious gems also are included in the masks. Statues, usually of wood or ivory, are often inlaid with cowrie shells, metal studs and, in the case of fetishes, nails. Decorative clothing is also commonplace and comprises another large part of African art. Among the most complex of African textiles is the colorful, strip-woven Kente cloth of Ghana. Boldly patterned mudcloth is another well known technique.

[edit] Contemporary art

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Africa is home to a great and thriving contemporary art culture. This has been sadly understudied until recently, due to scholars' and art collectors' emphasis on traditional art. Notable modern artists include Zerihun Yetmgeta, Odhiambo Siangla, Olu Oguibe, Lubaina Himid, and Bill Bidjocka. Art biennials are held in Dakar, Senegal, and Johannesburg, South Africa. Many contemporary African artists are represented in museum collections, and their art may sell for high prices at art auctions. Despite this, many contemporary African artists tend to have difficult times finding a market for their work. Many contemporary African arts borrow heavily from traditional predecessors. Ironically, this emphasis on abstraction is seen by Westerners as an imitation of European and American cubist and totemic artists, such as Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani and Henri Matisse, who, in actuality were heavily influenced by traditional African art. This became the first step of evolution in Western art where people started becoming more open-minded and came out of their shell to explore the different aspects of art.

[edit] By country

[edit] Côte d'Ivoire

The Baoulé, the Senoufo and the Dan peoples are skilled at carving wood and each culture produces wooden masks in wide variety. The Côte d'Ivorian peoples use masks to represent animals in caricature to depict deities, or to represent the souls of the departed.

As the masks are held to be of great spiritual power, it is considered a taboo for anyone other than specially trained persons to wear or possess certain masks.

These ceremonial masks each are thought to have a soul, or life force, and wearing these masks is thought to transform the wearer into the entity the mask represents.

Côte d'Ivoire has also modern painters and Ilustrators. Gilbert G. Groud critics the ancient believes in black magic, to which the above masks belong, in his illustrated book magie noire.

[edit] Botswana

In the northern part of Botswana, tribal women in the villages of Etsha and Gumare are noted for their skill at crafting baskets from Mokola Palm and local dyes. The baskets are generally woven into three types: large, lidded baskets used for storage large, open baskets for carrying objects on the head or for winnowing threshed grain, and smaller plates for winnowing pounded grain. The artistry of these baskets is being steadily enhanced through color use and improved designs as they are increasingly produced for commercial use.

The oldest evidence ancient paintings from both Botswana and South Africa. Depictions of hunting, both animal and human figures were made by the Khosian (Kung San!/Bushmen) dating before civilization over 20,000 years old within the Kalahari desert.

[edit] Egypt

Persisting for 3000 years and thirty dynasties, the "official" art of Egypt was centred on the state religion of the time. The art ranged from stone carvings of both massive statues and small statuettes, to wall art that depicted both history and mythology. In 2600 BC the maturity of Egyptian carving reached a peak it did not reach again for another 1500 years during the reign of Rameses II.

A lot of the art possesses a certain stiffness, with figures poised upright and rigid in a most regal fashion. Bodily proportions also appear to be mathematically derived, giving rise to a sense of fantastic perfection in the figures depicted. This most likely was used to reinforce the godliness of the ruling caste.