Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Mask from Gabon Two Chiwara c. late 19th early 20th centuries, Art Institute of Chicago.Female (left) and male, vertical styles. Most African sculpture from regions south of the Sahara was historically made of wood and other organic materials that have not survived from earlier than a few centuries ago, while older pottery figures are found from a number of areas.
With the 1994 exhibition of East African art objects in Germany, the organisers wanted to make "a previously unknown rich cultural landscape accessible to the wider public." The presentation of the sculptures as works of art from Africa was supplemented by art-historical and ethnological information in the accompanying catalogue. [7]
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. [16]
The metal pieces were made using lost-wax casting and are considered among the best African sculptures made using this technique. [21] Benin began to trade ivory, pepper, and slaves [ 22 ] with the Portuguese in the late 15th century and incorporated the use of manillas (brass ingots in the form of bracelets, bought from the Portuguese) as a ...
The balances between forces as they were created by Wuro are precarious, and it is easy for man, through the simplest daily acts, to pollute his world and throw the forces out of balance. Even farming, in which crops are gathered in the bush and brought into the village, can unbalance the precarious equilibrium between culture/nature, village/bush.
The Ife Empire was the earliest of these; It had cultural influence over the Oyo, Owo, and Benin kingdoms, whos's royal courts are said to have learned their art from Ife masters. Early art-historical and archaeological records reinforce these strong affiliations with Ife culture as far back as the 14th century. [4]
The royal arts of the Benin Kingdom of southern region Nigeria affirm the centrality of the Oba, or divine king, portraying his divine nature. While recording the kingdom's significant historical events and the Oba's involvement with them, they also initiate the Oba's interactions with the supernatural and honor his deified ancestors, forging a continuity that is vital to the kingdom's well-being.
Central Zimbabwe contains the "Great Dyke" – a source of serpentine rocks of many types including a hard variety locally called springstone.An early precolonial culture of Shona peoples settled the high plateau around 900 AD and “Great Zimbabwe”, which dates from about 1250–1450 AD, was a stone-walled town showing evidence in its archaeology of skilled stone working.