Viewing and Appreciating African Art

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Viewing and AppreciatingAfrican Art

• World Cultures
• Period Two, 2006 2007
• Ripley-Moffitt

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• Mask with Headdress, slide 4
• Deangle, We/Dan Cote dIvoire
• 20th century

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Mask With Headdress

• African art usually has purpose and meaning while
  Western art usually just made to look good
• This mask was used in bush schools to reassure
  and comfort boys before going through initiation
  rites to become men and in the teaching process
  and then in the celebrating of the graduation
• Members of society have to undergo extensive
  training and be admitted into special groups to
  have rights to use ritual objects
• By Rachel Earnhardt

4

• Baule Masking Performance
• Slide number 5
• Goli Glin / Bende Kouassikro, Cote dvoire
• 1980 AD

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Baule Masking PerformanceSlide Number 6

• Fibers of the raffia palm power of a bush, power
  of the wild things that live in the bush
• Costume covers all of the masker's body to keep
  the maskers identity hidden
• The masker is no longer himself rather he is
  transformed into the spirit of the mask
• The elements of a masquerade mask, costume, the
  maskers movements, his words, the music,
  participation of the audience, lighting and
  spiritual beliefs.

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• Slide 6
• Maiden Spirit Mask
• Igbo Nigeria 19th century

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Slide 6Maiden Spirit Mask

• This mask is used when a young beautiful girl
  dies they used this mask at the funeral.
• The Igbos believe in the afterlife.
• The hornbill is the animal that is part of the
  mask.
• By Sydney Kalin

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• Drum
• Slide 7
• Senufo, Côte d'Ivoire/Mali
• 20th Century

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Slide 7Drum

• Used to communicate to other villages, dancing,
  rituals
• Cosmology pictures related on the drum- ex.
  Hornbill/ messenger to the gods
• Made of wood and skin with hair
• Rituals/Ceremonies birth, praying to the gods
• Emily Aarons and Aliza Wientraub

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Nail and Blade Oath-Taking

• Nail and Blade Oath-Taking Image, Nkisi nkondi,
  Kongo, coastal Zaire, l9th century, wood,
  textile, bronze, twigs, glass, and horn. Museum
  purchase, gift of Mrs. Paul L. Wattis Fund, and
  The Fine Arts Museum Acquisition Fund. (1986.16.1)

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Slide 8

• Used whenever they have a problem.
• Settles feuds
• Figure has aggressive stance to show power
• The mirror on the stomach can scare and capture
  spirits and is a passage to the sprit world
• It is so powerful only a ritual experts can touch
  it
• It is kept in a sacred shrine so the power does
  not escape the figure
• Slide made by Aaron Rushin and Eric 6

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Ibeji Slide 9 Yoruba/Nigeria 20th Century
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Slide 9Ibeji

• Represents dead female twin
• When born, their souls split
• Treated like real child, so other childs soul
  will not die
• Brings parents good luck when taken care of
  properly
• Wears beaded gown that represents wealth
• Made of wood, leather, glass, plastic, cotton,
  and vegetable fiber

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Ivory Figurines, Lega, Eastern Zaire, 19th-20th
century By Jordan Baum Kjersti Kleine
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• Figures created by Lega people of Zaire
• Expressed saying with informative meaning
• Displayed in group or danced by owners attached
  to head, arm, leg, chest, loincloth
• When Bwami member dies figure is passed on to
  family member of same status
• Used at ceremonies when important man of
  community gained status
• Highest level of Bwami society owned figures
• By Jordan Baum Kjersti Kleine.

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Helmet mask with vertical ladder
Slide number 13
Bobo people, Burkina Faso
20th century
Grant Chapman Imraan Paruk
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Slide number 13Helmet Mask

• Doesnt look like a person
• Abstract
• Combine different animal and human parts
• Combined human, antelope, and bird elements
• On top of head seen as either bird wings or
  antelope antlers
• Geometric patterns seen as animal moral values
• Hard at first to recognize patterns
• Much more interesting to look at when abstract
• Grant Chapman
• Imraan Paruk

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              Standing Male Figure, Ibeji,
Yoruba, Nigeria, wood. (74.10.2) Slide 14
By Jordan Baum Kjersti Kleine
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• It must have ewa, which means character to be
  great
• The head is most important, which is why it is so
  big
• The character must portray in the middle, not to
  young or old, not to beautiful or ugly
• Must look human, but not like a specific one
• It must show the mark of a knife, and reflect
  light.

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Chief Ceremonial Stool

• Donnie Meredith
• Zaire, 20th Century
• December 12, 2006

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Chief Ceremonial Stool

• Made is Zaire by Luba or Hemba people in 20th
  Century
• Woman's arms not in proportion to show that they
  were strongest part of body
• Woman of high status if elaborate hair-do and
  scarification marks
• Scarification is when women cut themselves and
  rub ashes on the cuts to create raised scars.
• Scarification made women more beautiful
• By Meredith and Donnie

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Slide 17 Elephant Mask with Leopard Crest

• This piece originated from the Bameleke culture
• 12/11/06

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Slide 17 The Elephant Mask with Leopard Crest

• Masks are a type of African Art
• The mask has three types of animals on it
  elephant, leopard, and frog
• Each animal represents something
• White triangles on mask represent leopards spots
• Important
• Christopher Martin