African Arts

African art encompasses modern and historical paintings, sculptures, installations, and other visual cultures originating from indigenous African communities across the African continent. The definition may also include the art of the African diasporas, such as art in African-American, Caribbean, and South American societies inspired by African traditions. Although diverse there are unifying artistic themes across the visual cultures from the continent of Africa. Often, art was not created for its own sake, but for social, political, or religious purposes. African art is characterized by an emphasis on conceptual or symbolic representations, rather than imitating nature, aiming to capture the subject's spiritual essence.

Pottery, metalwork, sculpture, architecture, textile art, and fiber art are important visual art forms across Africa and may be included in the study of African Art. The term “African art” typically excludes the art of North African regions along the Mediterranean coast, which have historically been influenced by distinct traditions such as Berber and Islamic art. For more than a millennium, the art of such areas had formed part of Berber or Islamic art, with many particular local characteristics. Islamic art is very important in their culture, reflecting their historical and cultural heritage.

Ethiopian art, with a longstanding Christian tradition, is also different from that of most African art, where Traditional African religion (with Islam prevalent in the north) was dominant until the 20th century. African art includes prehistoric and ancient art, the Islamic art of West Africa, the Christian art of East Africa, and the traditional artifacts of these and other regions. Many African sculptures were historically made of wood and other natural materials that have not survived from earlier than a few centuries ago, although rare older pottery and metal figures can be found in some areas. Some of the earliest decorative objects, such as shell beads and evidence of paint, have been discovered in Africa, dating to the Middle Stone Age.Mitchell, Peter and Lane, Paul (2013) ''The Oxford Handbook of African Archaeology''. Oxford University Press. p. 375.

Masks are important elements in the art of many people, along with human figures, and are often highly stylized. There exist diverse styles, which can often be observed within a single context of origin and may be influenced by the intended use of the object. Nevertheless, broad regional trends are discernible. Sculpture is most common among "groups of settled cultivators in the areas drained by the Niger and Congo rivers" in West Africa.Honour & Fleming, 557 Direct images of deities are relatively infrequent, but masks in particular are or were often made for ritual ceremonies. Since the late 19th century, there has been an increasing amount of African art in Western collections, the finest pieces of which are displayed as part of the history of colonization.

African art had an important influence on European Modernist art,Murrell, Denise
"African Influences in Modern Art"
''The Metropolitan Museum of Art'', April 2008. Retrieved on 31 January 2013. which was inspired by their interest in abstract depiction. It was this appreciation of African sculpture that has been attributed to the very concept of "African art", as seen by European and American artists and art historians.

West African cultures developed bronze casting for reliefs, like the famous Benin Bronzes, to decorate palaces and for highly naturalistic royal heads from around the Bini town of Benin City, Edo State, as well as in terracotta or metal, from the 12th–14th centuries. Akan gold weights are a form of small metal sculptures produced from 1400–1900; some represent proverbs, contributing a narrative element rare in African sculpture; and royal regalia included gold sculptured elements. Many West African figures are used in religious rituals and are often coated with materials placed on them for ceremonial offerings. The Mande-speaking peoples of the same region make pieces from wood with broad, flat surfaces and arms and legs shaped like cylinders. In Central Africa, however, the main distinguishing characteristics include heart-shaped faces that are curved inward and display patterns of circles and dots.

Thematic elements

* In Western African art there is a focus on expressiveness and individuality while still being influenced by the traditional artistic influences. The art of the Dan people is an example of this, and it has also extended its influence beyond the continent.
*The human figure has long been the central subject of most African art, and this emphasis has even influenced certain European artistic traditions. For instance, during the fifteenth century, Portugal engaged in trade with the Sapi culture near the Ivory Coast in West Africa. The Sapi artists produced intricate ivory salt cellars that merged African and European design elements—most notably through the inclusion of the human figure, which was typically absent in Portuguese saltcellars. In African art, the human figure can symbolize the living or the dead, represent chiefs, dancers, or various trades, serve as an anthropomorphic image of a deity, or fulfill other votive and spiritual functions. Another recurring theme is the ''intermorphosis'' of humans and animals, blurring the boundaries between species to convey symbolic meaning.
*''Visual abstraction'': African artworks often prioritize visual abstraction over naturalistic representation. This stylistic tendency stems from the widespread use of generalized and codified forms, which reflect cultural values, spiritual beliefs, and artistic conventions rather than realistic depictions.

Scope

The study of African art until recently focused on the traditional art of certain well-known groups on the continent, with a particular emphasis on traditional sculpture, masks and other visual culture from non-Islamic West Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa with a particular emphasis on the 19th and 20th centuries. Recently, however, there has been a movement among African art historians and other scholars to include the visual culture of other regions and time periods. The notion is that by including all African cultures and their visual culture over time in ''African art'', there will be a greater understanding of the continent's visual aesthetics across time. Finally, the arts of the African diaspora, in Brazil, the Caribbean and the south-eastern United States, have also begun to be included in the study of African art.

Materials

African art is produced using a wide range of materials and takes many distinct shapes. Because wood is a prevalent material, wood sculptures make up the majority of African art. Other materials used in creating African art include clay soil. Jewelry is a popular art form used to indicate rank, affiliation with a group, or purely aesthetics. African jewelry is made from such diverse materials as Tiger's eye stone, Hematite, Sisal, coconut shell, beads and Ebony wood. Sculptures can be wooden, ceramic or carved out of stone like the famous Shona sculptures, and decorated or sculpted pottery comes from many regions. Various forms of textiles are made including Kitenge, mud cloth and Kente cloth. Mosaics made of butterfly wings or colored sand are popular in West Africa. Early African sculptures can be identified as being made of terracotta and bronze.

Traditional African religions

Traditional African religions have significantly shaped the art forms and cultural expressions across the African continent. These religions often emphasize the connection between the spiritual and material worlds, resulting in art that serves a functional and symbolic role. Artworks created within these traditions frequently embody religious symbolism, utilitarianism, and functionality. For instance, masks, sculptures, and figurines are often integral to rituals, ceremonies, and spiritual practices, symbolizing ancestral spirits, deities, or cosmic forces.

One central theme is the veneration of ancestors, who are viewed as intermediaries between the living and the divine. Ancestor worship inspires the creation of ritualistic objects, such as carved statues, ceremonial masks, and sacred relics, used to honor and communicate with these spiritual entities. For example, the Baule and Dogon peoples produce highly detailed figurines and masks for rituals aimed at ensuring communal well-being.

Traditional African art also serves as a means of depicting deities and natural forces. Gods such as Ogun, the deity of iron, war, and craftsmanship in Yoruba religion, are often represented through sculptures or tools imbued with symbolic power.

The influence of external religions, particularly Christianity and Islam, has also left a lasting imprint on African art. Over centuries, elements of these faiths have been integrated into traditional religious practices, resulting in syncretic artworks that blend indigenous and foreign iconography. For example, Islamic geometric patterns have influenced West African textiles, while Christian symbolism appears in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church’s illuminated manuscripts and murals.

History

The origins of African art lie long before the recorded history. The region's oldest known beads were made from ''Nassarius'' shells and worn as personal ornaments 72,000 years ago. In Africa, evidence for the making of paints by a complex process exists from about 100,000 years ago and of the use of pigments from around 320,000 years ago. African rock art in the Sahara in Niger preserves 6000-year-old carvings. Along with sub-Saharan Africa, the Western cultural arts, ancient Egyptian paintings and artifacts, and indigenous southern crafts also contributed greatly to African art. The abundance of surrounding nature was often depicted through abstract interpretations of animals, plant life, or natural designs and shapes. The Nubian Kingdom of Kush in modern Sudan was in close and often hostile contact with Egypt and produced monumental sculptures mostly derivative of styles that did not lead to the north. In West Africa, the earliest known sculptures are from the Nok culture, which thrived between 1,500 BC and 500 AD in modern Nigeria. Its clay figures typically feature elongated bodies and angular shapes.

More complex methods of producing art were developed in sub-Saharan Africa around the 10th century, some of the most notable advancements include the bronze work of Igbo Ukwu and the terracotta 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.

As Europeans explored the coasts of West Africa, they discovered a wide range of functional objects that Africans used for cultural, social, and economic purposes. Oath devices, for instance, were essential to securing business relationships during the era of the Atlantic slave trade. Though these works of craftsmanship followed their own aesthetic principles, they were regarded as tools of sorcery by European travel writers and reduced to a category of "fetish," which was understood to be outside the realm of art.

Influence on Western art

During and after the 19th and 20th-century colonial period, Westerners long characterized African art as "primitive." The term carries with it negative connotations of underdevelopment and poverty. Colonization during the nineteenth century set up a Western understanding hinged on the belief that African art lacked technical ability due to its low socioeconomic status.

At the start of the twentieth century, art historians like Carl Einstein, Michał Sobeski and Leo Frobenius published important works about the theme, giving African art the status of an aesthetic object, not only of an ethnographic object. At the same time, artists like Paul Gauguin, Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, André Derain, Henri Matisse, Joseph Csaky, and Amedeo Modigliani became aware of and inspired by, African art, amongst other art forms. 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-organized 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, organization, and reorganization 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.

* Abstraction and Form: African sculptures and masks showcased a departure from literal representation, emphasizing geometric forms and symbolic proportions, which inspired movements like Cubism and Fauvism.
* Emotional and Psychological Depth: The expressive power of African art encouraged modernist artists to explore raw emotion, spirituality, and the subconscious.
* Philosophical and Intellectual Discourse: The integration of African aesthetics transformed art from mere representation to a medium for exploring profound ideas, redefining the role of visual art in intellectual and cultural contexts.

Traditional art

Traditional art describes the most popular and studied forms of African art typically found in museum collections.

Wooden masks, which might either be of human, animal or legendary creatures, are one of the most commonly found forms of art in Western Africa. In their original contexts, ceremonial masks are used for celebrations, initiations, crop harvesting, and war preparation. The masks are worn by a chosen or initiated dancer. During the mask ceremony the dancer goes into a deep trance, and during this state of mind he "communicates" with his ancestors. The masks can be worn in three different ways: vertically covering the face: as helmets, encasing the entire head, and as a crest, resting upon the head, which was commonly covered by material as part of the disguise. African masks often represent a spirit and it is strongly believed that the spirit of the ancestors possesses the wearer. Most African masks are made with wood, and can be decorated with: 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 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.

Contemporary African art

Africa is home to a thriving contemporary art and fine art culture. This has been under-studied until recently, due to scholars' and art collectors' emphasis on traditional art. Notable modern artists include El Anatsui, Marlene Dumas, William Kentridge, Karel Nel, Kendell Geers, Yinka Shonibare, Zerihun Yetmgeta, Odhiambo Siangla, George Lilanga, Elias Jengo, Olu Oguibe, Lubaina Himid

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