African art

African art
Marie-Lan Nguyen · Public domain · source
Name	African art
Region	Africa
Period	Prehistoric to Contemporary
Materials	Wood, metal, ivory, textiles, beads, ceramics, stone

African art is a vast and diverse range of visual, sculptural, textile, and performance practices originating across the African continent. It encompasses prehistoric objects from the Nok culture and Tassili n'Ajjer rock art, monumental traditions such as the Great Mosque of Djenné, sophisticated court arts from Benin Kingdom and Asante Confederacy, and cutting‑edge work by contemporary figures linked to institutions like the Tate Modern, Museum of Modern Art, and Stedelijk Museum. Scholarship and collecting have been shaped by encounters involving actors such as the British Museum, Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and figures like Pieter de Marees, Hendrik Witbooi, and Leo Frobenius.

Definitions and Scope

Definitions of African art vary across studies of the Nok culture, Ancient Egypt, Kingdom of Aksum, Mali Empire, and coastal polities like the Swahili city‑states. Curatorial practice at institutions such as the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Smithsonian Institution often divides objects into categories derived from colonial-era taxonomies created by collectors like Paul Rivet and researchers like Margaret Trowell. Debates about scope engage scholars associated with the University of Ibadan, SOAS University of London, and the University of Cape Town, and are influenced by exhibitions such as those curated by William Fagg and Seydou Keïta retrospectives.

Historical Periods and Regional Traditions

Prehistoric and ancient traditions include the terracottas of the Nok culture, rock paintings at Tassili n'Ajjer, and monumental architecture in Great Zimbabwe. Medieval and premodern traditions cover the court bronzes of the Benin Kingdom, the carved doors and ceilings of the Zanzibar Stone Town, and the manuscript illumination of Timbuktu linked to the Mali Empire and Songhai Empire. West African traditions embrace the masquerade cultures of the Yoruba people, Igbo people, and Bambara people; Central African practices include the nkisi figures of the Kongo Kingdom and the reliquary arts of the Fang people; East African forms include Swahili coral houses and Ethiopian liturgical painting associated with the Zagwe dynasty; southern traditions encompass the stone sculpture of Great Zimbabwe and contemporary work from Maputo and Johannesburg.

Materials, Techniques, and Media

Artists and artisans across regions specialize in materials such as hardwoods from the Congo Basin, brass alloys worked using lost‑wax casting in Benin Kingdom and Ifẹ̀, ivory carving associated with Coastal West Africa, and indigo textiles from Mali and Guinea. Ceramic traditions include pottery from the Nok culture and kiln practices in Kano; beadwork links to communities in Zanzibar and the Shona people; metalwork ties to smiths in Birmingham‑era trade networks and to workshops patronized by elites in Oyo Empire. Techniques such as polychrome painting on hide in Ethiopia and basketry from the Tuareg intersect with performance genres like masquerade dance among the Dogon people and Senufo people.

Functions and Contexts (Ritual, Social, Political)

Works often serve ritual roles in initiation rites of the Yoruba people and Sande society, appear in funerary contexts among the Fang people and Akan people, and legitimize power in regalia of the Asante Confederacy and objects of the Benin Kingdom court. Art objects function in trade networks linking Lisbon and Cape Town, act as markers in diplomatic exchanges involving the Ottoman Empire and Portuguese Empire, and are mobilized in modern political symbolism by figures such as Kwame Nkrumah and Jomo Kenyatta.

Colonial Encounters, Collecting, and Museums

European colonial expansion involved collectors, missionaries, and officials from states like the United Kingdom, France, and Belgium; institutions such as the British Museum, Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, and Royal Museum for Central Africa accumulated vast holdings. Debates about provenance and restitution have engaged legal frameworks like bilateral agreements between Nigeria and the United Kingdom and high‑profile restitutions from the Berlin State Museums and Museo Nacional de Antropología. Scholars including Paulin Hountondji and curators such as Okwui Enwezor have critiqued colonial narratives and advanced decolonizing methodologies.

Contemporary African Art and Globalization

Contemporary artists work across diasporas and cities such as Lagos, Kigali, Cairo, Accra, and Dakar, participating in biennials including the Venice Biennale, São Paulo Art Biennial, and Dak’Art. Collectives and curators associated with the Raw Material Company, Zeitz MOCAA, and the Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art facilitate exhibitions that intersect with markets at auction houses like Sotheby’s and Christie’s. Themes address urbanization in Nairobi, memory politics related to Rwanda, and migrations linked to Libya, while artists engage transnational networks involving galleries such as Spaces Art Gallery and foundations like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in public‑art commissions.

Major Artists, Schools, and Movements

Key historical and contemporary figures include sculptors and makers from traditions and movements associated with names and places such as the Benin Kingdom bronze casters, the studios of Ghana‑based craftspeople, photographers like Malick Sidibé and Seydou Keïta, painters including Wosene Worke Kosrof and El Anatsui, and multidisciplinary artists such as Yinka Shonibare, William Kentridge (linked to South African art contexts), and Julie Mehretu. Schools and movements encompass modernist experiments tied to institutions like the Académie Julian (through colonial connections), postcolonial collectives emerging from the University of Lagos, and residency programs hosted by the Do Art Foundation and the Bag Factory Artists' Studios.

Category:African art