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Cultural Context

What is art of Africa and the Pacific Islands? Their artwork is based on mythological

beliefs, conventional methods of decoration. They both use traditional methods incorporated

into their art. Many people from all over the world are intrigued in viewing art from Africa and

the Pacific Island because many thinks it’s going to be so different from other art pieces. In all

reality it’s actually very similar to other art techniques. They use their artwork to tech the world

about their religion, mythology, history and culture. In 1860 to 1970 their artwork was very

inspirational to Europeans this time was known as modernist. Africa and the Pacific Island have

broadened their artwork this day and age. They make art from things all over the world now.

We learn about the different pieces of artwork and what they are known for in Africa, New

Zealand, Hawaii and Papua New Guinea. “Modern Africa includes 54 different countries and

more than 1.2 billion inhabitants.” Dewitte, Debra. J., et al. Gateways to Art: Understanding the

Visual Arts.2015. (pg. 447). About 2.3 million people live in the Pacific Island and is made of 15

countries.

Africa is known to make beads from shells, this was originated about 75,000 years ago.

They are also famous for their wooden sculptures and architecture. They made the head from

Rafin Kura which is in their museum in Lagos, Nigeria. (Refer to image 3.3.2).” Dewitte, Debra.

J., et al. Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts.2015. (pg. 447). This piece of art is

made using terra-cotta method meaning using clay that is made with a lot of iron and is not hot

nor cold and is a tan color. Coiling in another technique they used in making pottery. In Africa

they perceive the artwork as a form power, the more powerful the art piece the more powerful

the artist. Looking at African artwork people can tell the artists age by their use of colors,
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designs and materials. That is very interesting they are so observant to figure out the age of the

artist. I’ve never heard of that before. Africa is also known for masks, geometric shapes and

kente cloths. The kente cloth is made with specific colors referring to meanings. Yellow is holy,

gold for royalty, green for health and red for spiritual feelings. Their architecture is made of

mud brick and wood.

Mana known as magical power is believed in art of the Pacific Islands. Their art is very

popular in weapons, jewelry and furniture. They like tattoos out in the New Zealand and call

them, “ta moko.” They started tattooing back in 3300 BCE. In Hawaii they made woven cloaks

called ahu’ula used as a type of armor. Men were known to make these because they were

time consuming requiring a lot of skill. These cloaks were passed down too many generations

unless the enemies got ahold of them. They also used bark cloth in Hawaii where they also call

this kapa. This was used for clothes and wall decorations. In Papua New Guinea they are known

for farming and their yam and banana crops. So, in honor of their farming, they made

sculptures of men having yams and bananas on top of their heads in baskets and wood. Easter

Island has huge figures carved out of volcanic rocks made in 900 to 1500 CE. You can see these

figures still standing till this day, they have them all around the island. The figures represent

chiefs and are called moai ancestor figures. Moai means bearers of the gift.

This was very interesting learning about art in Africa and the Pacific Islands. They have

some very bright and beautiful pieces. I was very fascinated with the Moai ancestor figures. I

think those are very interesting because they are made of volcanic rocks. I would love to take a

trip to the Easter Island and see these beautiful sculptures myself one day.
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