Africa

Life relies on a continuing cycle of giving and receiving.   - Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher

Key Ideas

• Centered around spirituality, the spirit world, and the role of ancestors is huge to incorporate into artworks
• Fertility of man and of the land is key
• Most common materials are wood, ivory, and metal
• Mostly utilitarian, usually for ceremonies
• Architecture is predominately mudbrick
• Stone used in Zimbabwe and Ethiopian churches

Major Civilizations

• Nok (500 BCE-200 CE)         Nigeria
• Great Zimbabwe (11th- 15th c.)    Zimbabwe
• Ife Culture (11th-12th c.)       Nigeria
• Aksum (1200-1527)               Ethiopia
• Benin (13th-19th c.)               Nigeria
• Mende (19th-20th c.)             Sierra Leone
• Kongo (19th-20th c.)             Congo

Click on the picture to see a video of the ceremonies

Once a year, on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert, up to a thousand Wodaabe midas come together for a courtship ceremony called the Geerewol. At this time, the men display their charm and beauty in a series of competitive dances and the women judge them - selecting husbands, boyfriends, and lovers. 

Forming long lines, the men rise up and down on tiptoe, showing off their long, lithe bodies. The change expressions every few seconds, rolling their eyes and exposing their gleaming white teeth. The Wodaabe say, "It's through the strength of the eyes that marriages are made." 
Beckwith and Fisher, Faces of Africa, 64)

Watch this video of Beckwith and Fisher talking about their experience.

Additional Resources

Brooklyn Museum: African Arts
Bwoom Masks at the Brooklyn  Museum
Read about the Nok heads thematic essay by Heilbrunn Timeline
Nail figure -nkisi n'kondi on SmartHistory.This section of SmartHistory is divided by North, West, East, South, and Central Africa. 

Notecard Images

Artwork List

1. Conical tower and circular wall of Great Zimbabwe
2. Great Mosque of Djenne
        -Monday market at the Great Mosque
3. Wall plaque from Oba's palace
        -contextual photo of Oba of Benin
4. Sika dwa kofi (Golden stool)
        -contextual photo
5. Ndop (portrait of King Mishe miShyaang maMbul)
         -contextual photo
6. Power figure (Nkisi n'kondi)
      -additional photo
7. Female (Pwo) mask
8. Portrait mask (Mblo)
          -contextual photo
9. Bundu mask
          -contextual photo
       - Additional contextual      
            photo #2
10. Ikenga (shrine figure)
11. Lukasa (memory board)
         -contextual photo
12. Aka elephant mask
         -contextual photo #1
      - Additional contextual      
           photo #2
13. Reliquary figure (byeri)
14. Veranda post of enthroned king and senior wife