Africa

Art of African Kingdoms

Lesson one

Integrated with other art

forms: music, dance and drama

Plays an important part of daily life: from birth, into adulthood and to death

In death, the spirit joins the ancestral realm if the individual led an honorable, productive life

Emphasizes the important events of life and the forces in nature that influence the all life

Role of Art in African Cultures

Dominant themes:

Birth

Death

Roles of men, women and children

Sickness and healing

Importance of food and water

Human relationship with nature

Artwork often linked to celebrations and rituals-both sacred and secular

Themes in Art

Founded in early 13th century

near city of Jenne

Strong political power

Sculpture characteristics Jutting chins

Heads held high

Sturdy neck

Straight and tall body whether seated or standing

Emphasis on the vertical

Empire of Mali

Mali, Equestrian figure, 13th c.. ceramic

Architecture

Emphasis on the vertical

Made of adobe bricks

Great Friday Mosque

Amplifies tall and straight

Rows of tall, narrow columns

Refinished surface annually

Wooden beams project from sides as permanent supports

Great Friday Mosque

Great Friday Mosque

Great Mosque of Djenné, Mali, 1907

Market Place

Situated in what is now

southern Nigeria

Excelled in sculptures of metal, especially bronze

Bronze was reserved for most important works

Sculpture High-relief sculptures

covered the walls and pillars of the royal palace

Kingdom of Benin

Characteristics

Often contained figure of oba, or king

Flanked by two chiefs bearing shields

Sword bearers and palace attendants

Hierarchal scale

Asante Kingdom

Akan people

Measure of wealth was gold

Examples of use:

Jewelry

Stool

Ornaments

Staffs

Swords

Sika dwa kofi (Golden Stool), Asante people (Ghana), c. 1700

Golden Stool

Golden Stool in context

Asante King

controlled the use of special cloth

Kente cloth: brilliantly colored and patterned fabric

Became the royal cloth

Woven in narrow strips that are then stitched together in to complex patterns

Kente Cloth

African Sculpture

Lesson two

Much of African art is in the form of sculpture

Sculptures: Often made of wood

Stylized masks

Symbols o royalty

Powerfully expressive figures

Admired by artists outside Africa since 1905

Sculpture

Most wood sculptures

date from late 19th-early 20th century-period of European colonization of Africa

Because each is made of wood, they didn’t last

Each new generation attempted to improve upon earlier models-producing innovative designs

Used in religious rituals and ceremonies

African Wood Carvings

Varies from one ethnic group to another

Styles are influenced by cross-cultural contact and exchange

Variety of Artistic Styles

Many different forms but often based on

the human figure Carved with an adze: an ax-like tool with

an arched blade at right angles to the handle

Carved from a single section of wood Common characteristics: Proportions reflect cultural preferences

rather than natural proportions Frontal symmetrical pose Disproportionately large heads: Signifies

the head as the center of reason and wisdom

Little o no suggestion of movement

Carved Figures

Variety of functions

Promote the well-being of individuals, families, social groups

Reflect concerns of the living and of ancestors and spirits (including the unborn)

Function

Death is not considered the

end of life

Initiates spirit into world of ancestors and remains nearby to influence the living

Living talk to them linking living and dead

Ancestors and Cultural Figures

Kongo peoples (Democratic

Republic of the Congo)

Used in rituals to deal with social problems

Contain ancestral relics or medicines

Forces contained with are activated by a spiritualist

Once activated, the nkisi sculpture draws on these forces to aid those requiring assistance.

Nkisi Sculpture

Nkisi

spirit

the sacred medicine

Container of sacred substances

Nkondi: hunter

Considered the most powerful of all minkisi (plural for nkisi)

Nails and iron blades were inserted as part of a legal process

Draws on ancestral authority

Accumulation of metal blades

Used to solve verbal disputes or lawsuits

Nkisi Nkondi-Power Figure

Medicinal combinations

stored in the head and belly

Shielded by glass mirror

Glass represents “other world” inhabited by spirit of the dead who can peer through and see potential enemies

Sharp objects

Insertions

Insertions are driven in by the nganga (spiritual specialist)

Represents the mambu (lawsuit or dispute)

Object inserted depends on the seriousness of the offense

The deeper object is inserted, the more serious the offense

Insertion meaning

Prior to insertions,

opposing parties often lick the blades or nails

Actions seals the purpose of the nkisi through their saliva

If oath is broken or evil befalls one of them, nkisi nkondi will become activated to carry out its mission of destruction or divine protection

Ritual and Belief

Gabon, Africa

Nomadic people

Sculptures guard ancestral relics

Placed on top of baskets or bundles containing relics of the dead

Guardian Figures

Elongated body

Large head

Protruding navel

Ward off anyone who might harm contents or warning not to touch or might be harmed by relics

Made for special and important people

Fang byeri figure

Placed on inner palace

courtyard porch Nigeria, Africa; Yoruba

people Hierarchal proportion King enthroned in front of

female figure (his senior wife)

Suggests importance of women in Yoruba society

Women support community

She gazes down, hands on throne, suggests men cannot rule without support of women

Veranda Post of Enthroned King and Senior Wife

Artist: Olowe of Ise

King is important central position sits on throne Projection from top of head-divine

presence Large, beaded crown (link to past

rulers) who exercise power in spiritual realm

Bird Long beak points to king Symbolizes supernatural

watchfulness that enables him to protect his people

Represents powerful older women (ancestors and female deities) who support the king as “mothers”

Symbols

Variety of functions

Incudes a full costume

Usually worn by men

Have their own songs and dance steps

Masks

Female (Pwo ) mask Chokwe peoples (Democratic Republic of Congo Late 19th to early 20th. Wood, fiber, pigment and metal

Mende peoples of

Sierra Leone, Liberia

Bundu Mask from Sande Society

Function:

Worn at ceremonies at end of initiation process

Worn by women

Full costumes

Helmet Masks

Elephant Mask

Assert political power Elite Kuosi masking

society Honors king: worn by

title holders Combined with

costume, music, songs, food

Symbols: transforms human into elephant and leopard transforms into a human

Purpose