Art of Africa in the Modern Era

Catherine Daniel

Chavonnn Duncan

Dave Okolo

Major Themes

• Despite the vast size of the African continent, there are a number of similarities in the way in which African Artists create art, stemming from the number of common beliefs they share.

• Africans believe that…• Ancestors never die and can be addressed.

(Many sculptures are representations of family members and were carved to venerate their spirits)

Major Themes Continued

• Fertility, both of the individual and of the land is very important.

• Spirits who inhabit the forests or are associated with natural phenomena have to be respected and worshipped.

• Sculptures of suckling mothers are extremely common; it implied that everyone suckles from the breast of God.

Major Stylistic Tendencies

• Spirituality and ancestors dominate art.

• Artists preferred wood, but notable works are also done in ivory and metal.

• The art is rarely decorative, but made for a purpose, often for ceremonies.

• Architecture is predominantly made of mud-brick; stone is rare, but can be seen in Zimbabwe and in Ethiopian churches.

Important Historical Events• Before the 19th century, the most important outward influence

on Africa was the spread of Islam• The Modern era begins with the European exploration during

the 19th century.• At this time Christian missionaries also flooded the continent.• Towards the end of this century competition among rival

European powers fueled the so-called scramble for Africa, during which England, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain, and Portugal raced to lay claim to whatever part of the continent they could. By 1914 virtually all of Africa had fallen under colonial rule.

• In the years following World War I, nationalistic movements arose across African. From the mid 1950s through the mid 19702 one colony after another gained its independence, and the present day map of Africa took shape.

Patronage and Artists

• Though there were not any influential documented artists, Africans had guilds that promoted their work and helped elevate the profession.

• Men were builders and carvers and were permitted to wear masks. Women painted walls and created ceramics. Both sexes were weavers.

• The most collectable African art originated in farming communities rather than among nomads, who desired portability.

African Art and the Western Tradition

• From the time of the first European explorations and continuing through the colonial era, quantities of art from traditional African societies were shipped back to Western museums of natural history as artifacts of “primitive” cultures.

• Toward the end of the 19th century, however, profound changes in Western thinking about art gradually led people to appreciate the aesthetic qualities of tradition-based African “artifacts” and finally to embrace them fully as art.

Architecture

• Nankani Compound• Sirigu, Ghana 1972• Men build the

structures, women decorate them.

• Women live in round dwellings while men live in rectangular flat-roofed houses.

Architecture

• Door from Royal Palace in Ikere, Nigeria 1925

• Wood with pigment• Yoruba Culture• Classic theme of

elongated breasts symbolizes fertility

• Asymmetrical composition combines narrative and symbolic scenes in horizontal rectangular panels.

Gates of Paradise

Architecture

• Initiation Wall Panels• Nkanu Peoples• Wood with pigment• Covered the walls of a 3

walled hut. Made to commemorate the day of initiation of children into tribes.

• They were representations of the children who had come of age.

Sculpture

• Finial of a Spokesperson’s staff

• Ghana, Ashanti culture 1960s-70s

• Wood and gold• Staff is a nearly universal

symbol of authority and leadership.

• Ashanti ruler held it during ceremonies and speeches.

Hatsepshut

Sculpture

• Doll (Biiga)• Burkina Faso. Mossi

Culture Mid 20th century• Wood• Children represented the

future and continuation of the family and the community, and they guaranteed that parents will have someone to care for them when they were old.

• Represented ideal Mossi woman.

Sculpture• Yoruba Twin Figures• Nigeria, Yoruba culture 20th

century (Wood)• Highest rates of twin births

in the world• When a Yoruba twin dies,

the parents often consult a diviner, a specialist in ritual and spiritual practices, who may tell then that an image of a twin, or ere ibeji, must be carved to serve as a dwelling place for the deceased twin's spirit.

Sculpture

• Power Figure• Democratic Republic of

Congo 19th century• Wood• Figure begins as a simple

sculpture bought from a market. Afterwards a diviner prescribes magical/medicinal ingredients that are plastered onto the body. It acts as a powerful agent ready to attack the forces of evil on behalf of the human client.

Sculpture• Spirit Spouse• Baule culture 20th century

(Wood)• The Baule people believed

that before life they lived in the spirit world, and had a spirit spouse whom they left behind. Those who have trouble getting married or having children have these made so that their spirit spouse may enter them. The person must treat this figure like a human, and hopefully they will one day find a real spouse.

Masks• Two Masks in Performance

1984• Wood with pigments• Used for initiation of young

men and women into puberty.• They are taught about the

world of nature spirits and about the masks that represent them.

• Only boys wear each mask in turn and learn the dance steps that express the character and personality that each mask represents.

Masks• Temne Nowo Mask

• Its glossy black surface, high forehead, elaborately plaited hairstyle decorated with combs, and refined facial features, the mask represents ideal female beauty. The mask is usually worn be a senior member of the women’s Sande society whose responsibility is to prepare Sande girls for their adult roles in society including marriage and child bearing.

Masks• Bwami Mask• Wood, plant fiber, pigment• Worn at celebrations by the

members of the two highest classes of the political system.

• Head is fashioned as an oval into which is carved a concave, heart shaped face with narrow, raised features.

• They are too small to be put on the face so they are often held in the palm or strapped onto the thigh,

• Symbolizes continuity between the ancestors and the living community and are thought to be direct links to deceased relatives and past members of Bwami.

Dogon Funerary Dama

• During the “dama” they would use Kanga masks – Rectangular face which supports

a superstructure of planks depicting a woman, bird or lizard

Every 12-13 years a ceremony called “dama” is held to drive the souls of the deceased from the village

Dogon peoples are from Mali of West Africa

Kuba Funerary Rites

• Kuba people are from the Democratic Republic of Congo

• Believe that people are reincarnated after a generation or two

• They perform funerary masquerades to honor the deceased men and the high-ranking from the council

• For important senior title holders the Inuba appears for the ceremony

Inuba on right

Fang Ancestor Guardian

• Fang people live in Southern Cameroon and Northern Gabon

Fang Ancestor Guardian

• Followed an ancestral religion in which they would collect the bones and skulls of ancestors who have done great deeds – deeds – killing an elephant, trading

with Europeans, having many children, or founding a community

• Place bones in a bark container called nsekn o byeri

• Families would carry this with them when migrating

• On top of container a wooden figure called nlo byeri is placed

Fang Ancestor Guardian

• Carved in naturalistic style with…– specific hair styles – fully rounded torsos– heavily muscled legs and

arms• Statue also is symmetrical –

similar to the layout of there villages

Major Analysis

Head of Constantine

Major Analysis Continued

• Ife Figure• 11-12 century Zinc and Brass• Hamill Gallery of African Art, Boston, Mass• Head emphasized as seat of intelligence• Heavily loaded with jewelry around chest, wrists,

and ankles symbolize great wealth.• These sculptures were ‘scarified’ to represent

sacrificial ceremonies to promote fertility. As stated before, fertility was a major them in African Art of the Modern Era.

Works CitedNici, John B. AP Art History. Hauppauge: Barron's Educational Series, 2008. Print.

Barrons.Stockstad, Marilyn. Art History. Vol. 3. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2008. Print.