AFRICAN ART
Lecture 7A: Introduction
The San of South Africa
Eastern Africa
MAP OF THE AFRICAN CONTINENT
AFRICAN ART HISTORY…
A FEW WORDS
• Scholars are just now beginning to understand the complexity of African art.
• In addition to studying the object, CONTEXT is CRUCIAL!!! Works are used in dances, rituals, and have sacred power.
• Context can be difficult to recreate due to the long reaching negative effects of colonization and the institution of slavery.
• The current scholarship shows African art to be vibrant, expressive, and deeply rooted in religious thought.
Masked Kanga Dancers,
Dogon, Mali. 20th century
THE WORLD’S OLDEST KNOWN ARTWORK!!!
• In 2008 archaeologists uncovered a 100,000 year old paint workshop in the Blombos Cave in Africa near the Southern Cape Coast.
• Ochre with delicate, incised geometric patterns found.
• Completely undoes many of the assumptions we had about early human history!!!
WORLDVIEW OF THE SAN CULTURE,
SOUTHERN AFRICA
• Painting on stone surfaces
are among the oldest
known art forms in Africa.
• (NOTE: These works are
not related to the rock art
in Australia).
• San artworks both
illustrate and play an
active role in the power
and activities of
healers/shamans.
Rock paintings of Elands (sacred species
of antelope)
San people, South Africa, date unknown
Rock paintings of hunters and Elands, San people,
South Africa, c. 2000 B.C.-A.D. 1900
San culture, South Africa, Eland with “line of force”
representing sacred energy or life force (n’um)
San culture, rock painting from South Africa, showing healing ceremony
THE ART OF EAST AFRICA The Giryama of Kenya, the Tutsi of Rwanda, and Christians in Ethiopia
MAP OF THE AFRICAN CONTINENT
FUNERAL POSTS OF THE GIRYAMA IN KENYA
• After a person dies, their spirit asks a wealthy relative for a spot to rest outside of the cemetery.
• Faces range from naturalistic to highly abstract; the body is always a long, thin rectangle.
• “Body” decorated with patterning that can represent the achievements of the deceased during their lifetime.
• No post? That’s a problem!
VIDEO OF THE GIRYAMA PEOPLE
SINGING AND DANCING
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzqMbSf_rbM
TUTSI BASKETRY
• Baskets, mats, clothes, fishnets, fences, AND architecture were woven due to abundance of grass in the east.
• Baskets decorated with vibrant geometric patterns in yellow, red, black, and white.
• Woven with wet reeds; baskets then dry and keep their shape.
Lidded Basket (Igiseke), 20th century
Rwanda; Tutsi peoples
ETHIOPIAN ART: CHRISTIAN ART FOR AFRICA
• East Africa was Christianized
from the 4th to 6th centuries.
• Elements of Early Medieval
Christian art were combined
with African abstraction and
love of vibrant red and orange
inks.
• Both medieval and African
Christian texts completed on
parchment with ink.
Page from an Illuminated Gospel, late 14th century
Ethiopia, Highland region
Page from an Illuminated Gospel, late 14th
century
Ethiopia, Highland region
Parchment (vellum), wood (acacia), tempera, ink
The Gospel According to
Matthew, Lindisfarne
Gospel, early 8th
century. Compare to
figure 7.6
AFTER THIS LECTURE YOU SHOULD
BE ABLE TO…
• Discuss the ineffective nature of trying to understand African art from a western art historical perspective.
• Identify key features of the worldviews of African peoples in the south and eastern portions of the continent.
• Compare and contrast medieval and Ethiopian manuscripts.
• Identify who makes artwork in this region and how owners treat the works.