African Art Essay

African Art has historically been focus on the power and beauty of the body. The pieces of art that remain today lack much of the purpose as they meant to be used not displayed in glass cases. This is true for items such as the Buli Master’s stools and the headdresses of the Bamana and Mende peoples. These items, though aesthetically pleasing were meant to be used in either a leader’s home while entertaining guests or for ceremonies of seasonal change or children becoming adults. The headdresses in particular are not stand alone objects, but part of an assumable in a dance. The Prestige Stool, Helmet Mask for Sande Society (Ndoli Jowei), and Ci Wara Headdress all show bodily features that their respective communities found valuable. The…

African art and architecture refers to the area around the sub-Saharan Africa. It’s geographically located in Africa continent and south of the Sahara Desert. Since the African Generations exists even before the United States and the nations of Europe became great powers, Africa had witnessed the rise and fall of many kingdoms. The people from this continent has a very long historical culture. Their art work represents the ancient African histories, philosophies, religions, as well as the…

African Art During 5th Century BC, African people started using Art for visual social for forms and practices. African artwork has influenced a variety of artworks towards the outside of Africa. They used a variety of media articles. African created new inventions, style, and entertainment. Africans use mainly wood to create sculptures and masks. In African Artwork, it all began when Africans started painting in the caves. As they began to try a new style of painting, they started…

Art education was changing in America, “In the 1930’s, American public school art responded to various issues of labor selection, urbanization, and socialization. By the 1940’s and 1950’s, a new tension in the national political and economic condition resulted…” (Freedman, 1989, p.17). At the end of World War I, art educators looked to curriculum to address the needs of citizenship and social relationships. Kerry Freedman (1989) concludes art education had two layers, first, a curriculum that…

Medieval African Art Rock paintings from medieval Africa are one of the oldest types of art in the world. Art in medieval Africa came in many forms such as paintings, masks, statues and textiles. Africans made many traditions with their art and influenced many cultures, including their own. These different types of art were used in many religious practices and many are still used today. Cave paintings are Africa’s earliest form of art, thought to be over 27,000 years old. They show many aspects…

Art of the African people have been attracted by connoisseurs from all over the world because of their originality and dissimilarity to the usual Western art. Africa art has an undoubted advantage because of their unusual understanding of the reality of the image. Art of Africa covers several historical periods and provides a single historical type, characterized by integrity stylistic features that have little changes in centuries. African Art includes creation by many different cultures that…

African Art in Museums Africa is known for its larger cultural diversity and has many different types of beauty and art (one in the same). From the aesthetics view, African ideals of visual art are very different from the ideals in Europe and America. Most African artists have designed both ritual and everyday objects to be pleasing to the eye, colorful, and using many different designs. An example of art like this is the Male Chi Wara antelope headdress. If you were viewing this piece from a…

Going to two of the most popular museums in New York City to learn about African art and history did not seem of interest to me until I was forced to by the Summer Class I was taking at Pace. In my mind I kept thinking it was going to be a waste of my time when I could be enjoying my summer weekend in the city. However, I was mistaken and my breath was taken away from our history of humans to the African tradition and how it impacts us. This project showed me the connection of art and history in…

facing towards the audience while standing on top of a cliff overlooking the ocean during the time of a sunset. As I continue to look my eyes caught a quote on a mustard color wall. A particular section of the quote sparked my curiosity. It stated, “As a cradle of humanity, Africa is a part of everyone’s heritage.” What strikes me as odd, is the fact that this statement claims that “Africa is a part of everyone’s heritage”, however, the National Museum of African Art is one of the smallest…

Experiencing African Arts Festival African Art Festival is a St. Louis tradition in the city. It’s sponsored by Washington University, Saint Louis Zoo, Saint Louis Art Museum, Office of Minority Health, and Recycling on the Go organization. The festival was located in Forest Park in St. Louis. Over half of the park was filled with African artists, vendors, and african musicians and dancers. The festival was a three day long event. May 28th - until May 30th. Each day the event started at 10 and…