African Art in the Modern Era

Art and it function Architecture: Nankani compound Sculpture: Yoruba twin figures: style and function Kongo Power Figure: sculpture and participation Performing Arts: Bwa initiation rites Textiles: Kente cloths: from traditional textile to installation art

- diversity of cultures, languages, religions, political entities - destruction of oral tradition / history - Europe: colonialism, anthropology, and primitivism

Art and its function Iconography related to use political power is like an egg: grasp it too tightly and it will shatter in your hand; hold it too loosely and it will slip from your fingers Ghana, one of richest goldfields -> gold = power
Attributed to Kojo Bonsu, Finial of a Spokepers on Staff, from Ghana, Ashanti ulture, 1960s-70s, wood and gold. H. 11 1/4

Painted architecture Earthen buildings Cylindrical

Nankani Compound, Ghana, 1972

Walled compound one entrance (each house can see it) Fractal structure Symbolism (life to death)

gender roles: squared buildings used only by men, round ones by women (inner courtyard) Men build, women paint

Yidoor= horizontal molded ridges Zalanga = bisected lozenge design Contrast angular decoration - curved walls/urban structure

Great Yoruba sculpture tradition

Twin Figures, from Nigeria, Yoruba culture, early 20th cent. Wood, h. 7 7/8

Terracotta Sculpture, Yoruba people 1215th Century

Sculpture = spirits dwelling place Ritual: sculpture brought home from the artists studio

Twin Figures, from Nigeria, Yoruba culture, early 20th cent. Wood, h. 7 7/8

Sculpture = spirits dwelling place Ritual: sculpture brought home from the artists studio Placed in shrine + taken care of (signs of use)

Sculpture = spirits dwelling place Ritual: sculpture brought home from the artists studio Placed in shrine + taken care of (signs of use) Iconography: glossy surface = health, signs of adulthood (hairstyle, scarification) Twin Figures, from Nigeria, Yoruba culture, early 20th cent. Wood, h. 7 7/8

-house specific mystical forces -medicines in a hole in the stomach or on top of its head -collaborative creations -category formerly known as nail fetishes (nkisi miloko)

Power figure (Nkisi), from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kongo culture, 19th century. Wood, nails, pins, blades and other materials, h. 44

Male power figure (Nkisi), wood, pigment, nails, cloth, beads, shells, arrows, leather, nuts, twine, h. 23 in. (58.8 cm), 19th20th century (New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Kongo Power Figure, Nkisi N'Kondi: Mangaaka Kongo Peoples; Democratic Republic of the Congo or Angola, Second half of the 19th century. Wood, paint, metal, resin, ceramic

Initiation Passage from puberty to adulthood 1) kidnapping (separation from younger playmates) 2) Isolation and education (masks, spirits) 3) Reunion
http://www.uiowa.edu/~africart/streamingmovie s/RSTP_files/BwaBoni512K_Stream001 .mov

Masks in performance, Burkina Faso, Bwa culture, 1984, wood, mineral pigments, and fiber, h. 7

fish

antelope

Iconography: White crescent = quarter moon (when the rite is held) White triangles = bull roarer (sound of spirit voices) X = initiation scar Zigzags = path of the ancestors (difficult to follow) Beak of the hornbill = bird intermediary living-dead

Masks in performance, Burkina Faso, Bwa culture, 1984, wood, mineral pigments, and fiber, h. 7

Kente cloth, from Ghana. Ashanti culture, 20th century. Silk, h. 6 10 9/16.

Long Ashanti tradition of KENTE = woven textiles Male activity Strip waving Famous for bright colors

El Anatsui, Flag for a New World Power, 2004. Aluminium bottle tops, copper wire. H. 196