Art of Africa, Chapter 15 and 32

Purpose of Art

*Art is Africa became a tool for ancestor worship. Sculptural was the medium used to replicated a concept and to create a dialogue with the spiritual realm
*Europeans began active exploration in Africa and Islam expanded seeking converts. Christian missio

Context of Art

Context is extremely important in African Art. For example, the placement of masks withing a shrine increases the power of the masks, but outside this context the mask becomes a commodity (something to be traded). Often, the masquerader assists the deceas

Prehistoric African Art

Rock art mostly found in what is now dry desert regions/ rock artists were more often hunter-gathers or herders not farmers/ record of environment, human activity and animal species

Figure 12-2; Nok head;

Nok Art (500-200 BCE); earliest African sculpture in the round found in Central Sudan; from Rafin Kura, Nigeria, ca 500 BCE -200 CE/ Terracotta/ about one foot and 2 inches high/ fragment of full sculpture/ Nok Style= expressive face/ large alert eyes/ fl

Figure 15-6; King

from Ife, Nigeria, 11th century to 12th century/ zinc brass/ one foot 6 inches high/ Sacred Kings/ Ile-Ife Art (West of the Lower Niger)/ Ile-Ife is cradle of Yoruba civilization (place where gods created the universe)/ cast in zinc-brass alloy, unlike mo

Figure 5-12; Master of Symbolic Execution; Sapi Art (west Atlantic Coast)

Master of Symbolic Execution; saltcellar; Sapi- Portuguese from Sierra Leone, 15th to 16th century/ ivory/ one foot four inches high/ Sapi Art (west Atlantic Coast)/ Sapi carved stone, wood and ivory images during the 15 and 16th centuries/ between 1490 a

Figure 32-2; Fang Guardian Figures

Reliquary Figures and Funerary Art; although it is often difficult to date African art precisely, a number of objects can be assigned to the 19th century with confidence, including the reliquary guardian figures, figures made by the Fang people south of t

Figure 32-3; Kota Reliquary Figures

The Kota Reliquary Figures were very abstract and severely stylized. They were carved from wood and then covered with brass, copper, and iron. (material= meaning) The gleaming surfaces are said to have repeled evil. Most of the metal came from basins orgi

Figure 32-25; A Hen with Chicks

Today's African artists also tend to use new forms, techniques, and materials within older functional categories. Ga Caskets created of wood by Kane Kwei (1924-1991) and his sons exemplify this type of art. Beginning in 1970, Kwei created figurative coffi

Mother with children- Genetrix Figures

African Art, ca 1000-1800 Inland Niger Delta Art (western Sudan)/ this one is from the Inland Niger Delta, Mali/ Terracotta/ Jenne Terracottas- Jenne-Jeno (walled town) 800 CE- hundreds of these sculptures are dated 100-1500 from the Jenne region; childre

Figure 32-5; Nkisi N'Kondi

The male Nkisi N'Kondi would be consecrated by a priest using precise ritual formulas. Such images embodied spirits to heal and give life or sometimes to inflict harm. The large coqry shell, which looks like the belly button, shows a tie to life and mothe

Figure 32-6; Dogon Couple Figures

Dogon Couple Figures are strongly stylized, in contrast to the relatively realistic treatment of the human body in Kongo art. The elongated bodies reference the trees from which they are carved and express the energy found in all of nature; since a spirit

Nigerian Twin Figures

Nigerian Twin Figures 12" to 18" statuettes, are created for mothers whose babies have died. The Yoruba have one of the highest rates of twin births in the world, and the Yoruba people believe that twins share one soul. When one twin dies, the fear is tha

Figure 15-1; Running woman; Central Saharan painting

Central Saharan painting/ 6000-4000 BCE/ rock painting from Tassili (Inauouanrhat), Algeria/ shows movement, detail/ ritualistic body painting/ superimpositions of images make dating difficult/ overall meaning= references to ideas and rituals about the or

Figure 15-3; Head

from South Africa, sixth to eighth century CE/ Terracotta. one foot and 3 inches high almost/ Lydenburg Art-Southern Art/ nearly life-size/ inverted pot shape/ features created by adding clay/ scarification marks/ bands around neck: symbol of beauty/ most

Figure 15-7; Walls and tower, Great Enclosure, Great Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe, 14th century

Walls and tower, Great Enclosure, Great Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe, 14th century/ ruins of a lost empire- Great Zimbabwe Art (Southern Africa)/ most famous southern African site/ first occupied in 11th century/ had evidence of wide trade network (prosperous trade

Lalibela Art and Architecture (Ethiopia); rock cut churches

Christianity arrives in Ethiopia in early 4th century/ Lalibela: ruler of Zagwe dynasty 13th century commissioned churches/ totally rock-cut/ exterior is colonnade of square pillars, crowned, pitched roof with reliefs/ 1500 such sculpted churches exist in

Figure 15-10; Ivory belt mask of a Queen Mother

Benin Art (Lower Niger)/ Ivory belt mask of a Queen Mother/ from Benin, Nigeria, mid 16th century/ ivory and iron, 9 inches high/ Benin kingdom established in 13th century/ British sacked palace and city in 1897/ Benin artists (guilds) work with cast copp

Figure 15-11; Altar to the Hand and Arm (Benin)

from Benin, Nigeria, 17th to 18th century/ bronze/ 1 foot 5.5 inches high/ Ikegobo: cast-brass royal shrine; symmetrical hierarchical compositions centered on the dominant king (he is depicted twice)/ proportions of king (large head= seat of his will and

Figure 15-4; Equestrian figure on fly-whisk hilt

Igbo-Ukwu Art- Lower Niger Region; from Igbo-Ukwu, Nigeria, 9th to 10th Century CE/ fly-whisk handle/ bronze-casting tradition (lost-wax) developed in this area/ figure seated on animal, lower area embellished with beaded and thread-like patters, facial s