1. Artist: n/a
Title: Ancient Africa– Cameroon- part of Niger; Cote d’Ivoire- Ghana; Sierra Leonne West of Ghana
Medium: n/a
Size: n/a
Date: n/a
Source/Museum: n/a

2. Key Points-
The spreading Sahara pushed cultures Southward after the great civilizations of Egypt
Spirituality- not decoration- spirit world and ancestors- ancestors can never die- art work is their spirit
Wood was used for art - ivory and some metals- for royalty only
Art work used for ceremony and were manipulated during the ceremonies
Architecture-stone work was first- mud brick- in some cases- stone- but rare
African history is based in oral tradition

3. Common Beliefs
1. Ancestors do not die
2. Family is important esp elderly..Ancestor spirits take around to help and assist
3. Fertility is important- of the land and the person
There are spirits in nature
Suckling mothers are icons for nature and how the gods assist us
Visitors and European conquerors- English and Portuguese and French – after isolation up to the 19th century. Then the “ Scramble for Africa” started and divided Africa into colonies- mostly restricted to coastal areas
Independence in 1960s and Portuguese colonies in 1970s

4. Oral tradition to record information
African art is unsigned and undated.
Artists- apprenticeship training much like the Renaissance and lived with patrons.
Men’s work- building, carving, wearing masks in ceremony
Women’s work – painting, ceramics ( Sierra Leone- make and wear the masks)
Both- weavers
Western Africa- settled communities
East Africa- nomadic
African Art brought to Europe during the Renaissance as a curiosity-
Not till 20th century that it was used and reflected on as art

5. African Architecture
Traditional Architecture is cool and comfortable made of mud
Brick and thatched roofs.
Inherent probs with the mud brick. So horizontally placed
Beams help with maintenance ( torans)
No real stonework except at Zimbabwe.
The Great Zimbabwe from 14th century shows
that this technique had been used
Prior- but no examples.

6. Image 167
Title: Conical Tower from the Great Enclosure- palace at Great Zimbabwe- The capital of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe – of the Queen of Sheeba
Medium: n/a- “Venerated Houses” – Royal trading center – with a town at the bottom of the hill- all walls are curved… very unusual
Size: height of tower 30' (9.1 m)
DATES: Great Zimbabwe th Century
Called the African Stonehenge- walls around the city were stone and morter- 5 meters tall UNESCO World Heritage Site Shona Term meaning “ venerated houses” , stone enclosure- royal residence, 800 ft. long, 32 feet tall, 17 feet thick at base. Conical tower is grain silos. Control over food symbolized wealth acres

7. Ruins of what is left of the Great Zimbabwe
Ruins of what is left of the Great Zimbabwe. Archeologists believe it to be the queen’s residence. All curved walls that slope inward.

8. Image 167 Circular Wall of the Great Zimbabwe
The granite walls - embellished with turrets, towers, platforms and elegantly sculpted stairways - seem to have had no defensive function. But, in the words of archeologist Peter Garlake, they display "an architecture that is unparalleled elsewhere in Africa or beyond."
Although inexpertly restored in many places, the ruins at Great Zimbabwe are still by a good margin the most impressive ancient structures in sub-Saharan Africa. They are also the source of considerable pride for present-day Zimbabweans. After all, the huge chiseled walls of the Great Enclosure, with its soaring stone tower and complex chevron patterns, are a work of high engineering skill.
Much about Great Zimbabwe is still a mystery, owing in large measure to frenzied plundering of the site around 1902, but it can be stated with certainty that the Queen of Sheba never drew breath here. Instead, at any given time during Great Zimbabwe's heyday, anywhere from 10,000 to 20,000 black Africans did.
By the thirteenth century, they dwelt at the epicenter of an industrious southern African empire, with trading links stretching as far away as India, Persia and China that are found in artifacts here.

9. Europeans first look at the Great Zimbabwe- It is the largest example of a walled city in Africa. Country of Zimbabwe named after the ruins.

10. The Great Birds –16 inches on a pole the height of a person- are Devine and Sacred Birds found in the Great Zimbabwe with crocodile- believed to be the sign that royalty was present. They are the symbol of Zimbabwe and are on its flag.

11. Image 168 Artist: n/a Djenne
Title: Great Friday Mosque, first built in 13th century, redone in 1907, Mali- largest mud brick building in the world; site of the annual event- The Plastering of the Great Mosque- three towers- center one is the mihrab ( central niche which indicates the direction of Mecca)
Medium: n/a
Size: n/a
Date: Rebuilt in 1907, in the style of 13th-century original
Source/Museum: DJenné, Mali, Showing The Eastern and Northern Façades The walls are between 41 cm (16 in.) and 61 cm (24 in.) thick - the thickness varying with the wall's height. Bundles of palm branches were included in the building to reduce cracking caused by frequent drastic changes in humidity and temperature and to serve as readymade scaffolding for annual repairs. The walls insulate the building from heat during the day and by nightfall have absorbed enough heat to keep the mosque warm through the night. Gutters, made of ceramic pipes, extend from the roofline and direct water drainage from the roof away from the walls. To protect the Great Mosque from water damage, in particular flooding by the Bani river, the entire structure was constructed on a raised platform 3 meters high. A set of six stairs, each decorated with pinnacles, leads to the mosque’s entrance.

12. Reconstruction- 1896

13. Great Friday Mosque Roof
Ostrich eggs- fertility symbol
Event once a year tied to the re-mudding and repair of the structure. Largest mud brick structure in the world.

14. Detail of Great Friday Mosque; torons from the walls upon which to hang ladders during the festival

15. Sculpture-
1. Portable for the most part-
2. Wood – favoured material
Ivory and Metals that indicate royalty
Stone use is rare
3. Typically- frontal, full face, large heads ( seat of intelligence)
Symmetrical
4. Created with and adz- geometric- No sketching- internal preparation
5. Heads are large –some time a 1/3rd of the body, Large sex organs
Small hands, feet, arms and legs; fingers are rare
6. Mixed media with feathers, beads added onto the wood
7. No physical reality here- spiritual- geometrization of the shapes
8. PURPOSE.. Masks are always part of a full costume
If you are masked- you become the spirit and can transmit messages
From the ancestors

16. Image 169 Artist: n/a
Title: Plaque: Equestian oba warrior chief flanked by warriors and attendants; with large heads to indicate intelligence- The Oba- a direct descendent of the first Oba- coral beads in trade. Only the Oba is allowed to be sheltered in the manner. Only the Oba can hold the sacred tools of war. Oba on a horse with feet smooshing head of the other ruler.
Medium: Brass
Size: height 14¾" X 15½" (37.5 X 39.4 cm)
Date: Middle Period, c. 1550–1650 CE
Source/Museum: Benin, Nigeria. / The Metropolitan Museum of Art
900 plaque produced. Decorated the wooded walls of the palace in Benin.Benin bronzes of the Obo with entourage. Portugese called the Ebo people Bini and called them Benin. They called it Ebo City. Plates were on the doors to the palace. Over 900 of them made. This one was looted by a westerner b/c it ended up in Metropolitan Museum.

17. Detail

18. Portugese Sailor- Benin sculpture

19. Artist: n/a
Title: Hip mask representing an iyoba (“Queen Mother”) Ivory Belt Mask 16th century c.- worn by the OBA ( king of Benin)
Medium: Ivory, iron, and copper
Size: height 9⅜" (23.4 cm)
Date: Middle Period, c CE
Source/Museum: Benin, / The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Gift of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1972 ( )
Worn by the Oba to remind him of the queen mother, Idia. One of a pair.

20. Artist: n/a
Title: Head of a king, Head of a woman- 16thCentury
Medium: Zinc brass
Size: height 11 7⁄16" (29 cm)
Date: c. 13th century CE
Source/Museum: Ife. Yoruba. / Museum of Ife Antiquities, Ife, Nigeria
Dynasty and Divinity presents a major part of the extraordinary body of ancient Ife art in terra-cotta, stone, and metal, dating from the ninth to the fifteenth centuries. Artists at Ife, the ancient city-state of the Yoruba people of West Africa (located in present-day southwestern Nigeria), created sculpture that ranks among the most aesthetically striking and technically sophisticated in the world.. Together, these illuminate one of the world's greatest art centers and demonstrate the technological sophistication of Ife artists, as well as the rich aesthetic language they developed in order to convey ideas about worldly and divine power.

21. Image 170 Ashanti- The Golden Stool Ositutu- unified surrounding tribes- 17th Century
Fell from the sky into the lap of the Ashanti King- wooden stool covered in gold.
Such seats were traditionally symbolic of a chieftain's leadership, but the Golden Stool is believed to house the spirit of the Asante nation—living, dead and yet to be born. Has its own stool to sit on. Gold plentiful and reserved for the Ashantehini- the king.
1874 English invaded and took a lot of the gold and tried to take the golden stool. The queen mother fought the English and hid the stool. The stool is tipped so that no on sits on it. ( sunsum-the personal energy is taken from it if someone sits on it)

22. Golden stool on the throne

23. Image 171 Kuba- wood form 1760-1780 – purchased by Brooklyn Museum, NY 19x7x8 inches
Ndop portrait of King Mishe miShyannage maMbul- idealized
Idealized portraits are ndops and made after the kings are dead and they solidify who they are and what they did.
No written records, so no one knows what he did or how important he was. Kuba artists were apprenticed. This was meant to represent the ideal king, not the king himself.3-1 proportion of head to body. Severed hand and drum are symbols particular to this king. Hand grasping a knife and on the thigh represents the kingliness.He sits cross legged on a platform. He is aloof and in contact with his spirit. Shoddy is his headdress.

24. Image 171 Contextual Image
Image 171 Contextual Image. Kuba ruler with regalia, Sword, drums, spear, leopard skin. From a royal event in 1971.
185 lbs… needed help to move. This weight represented the weight of the role of being King. Often buried with his things.

25. The upraised arm (which originally held a knife of some type) identifies this figure as a hunter (nkondi), which means that the purpose of this figure was to "hunt down" those who had done wrong or cast spells against the owner of the figure. The very European style hat on this figure's head would have contained special medicines and indicates that the piece was created during the time of European colonialization. The red and white streaks under the eyes represent the "tears" that come with death.
Image 172 Power Figure from Kongo ( Congo) 19 th century
Spirits embedded into the image by the shaman.
Nkisi are usually anthropomorphic or zoomorphic figures (dogs), and are made by a sculptor and a shaman. The power figure receives the shaman’s supernatural potential when a receptacle containing magical substances and sealed with a shell or mirror is attached to its head or belly. Nails are driven into the figure to validate each oath or appeal for retaliation, and they gradually transform the nkondi's appearance. As a result, they were seen as malevolent, savage instruments (inappropriately called "nail fetishes") that were used indiscriminately, whereas in fact this aggressive "decorating" was carried out to right specific injustices.

26. More power figures from Kongo. 36 inches
Container of sacred substances that can be released.
Can be used to resolve disputes or used as an avenger or a guardian.
The insertions are driven into the figure by the nganga and represent the mambu and the type or degree of severity of an issue can be suggested through the material itself. A peg may refer to a matter being ‘settled’ whereas a nail, deeply inserted may represent a more serious offense such as murder. Prior to insertion, opposing parties or clients, often lick the blades or nails, to seal the function or purpose of the nkisi through their saliva. If an oath is broken by one of the parties or evil befalls one of them, the nkisi nkondi will become activated to carry out its mission of destruction or divine protection. 

27. Image 173 Portrait mask Baule People
Image 173 Portrait mask Baule People . Mblo Ivory Coast 19-20th century, wood.
Designed as part of a Baule theatrical tradition, known as "Mblo," that combines dramatic skits and solo dances, this mask is an idealized representation of the prominent member of the community for which it was sculpted. Its lustrous carved surfaces suggest healthy skin set off by a delicately textured coiffure and facial scarifications. Within Baule culture, Mblo portrait masks are appreciated as the most refined and long-standing form of artistic expression. While they may depict either men or women, such works were generally commissioned by a man to honor a female relative or created by a carver in homage to a particular woman's dance skills and beauty. Because of their importance, only the best dancers are eligible to wear portrait masks in performance. On such occasions it is required that the portrait's subject, or "double," be present to accompany it. Exhibited in Paris in 1913

28. Mblo mask made to honor the woman made by and worn by her grandson
Eyes downcast- modesty and wisdom- ideal state of inner being
Brussels, to France, To Minneapolis, to Yale, to Chicago to Museum of African Art in NY
Not an aesthetic object…an object meant to remain hidden.

29. Image 174 Chokwe Mask- Female (Pwo) late 19th Century – the ideal woman
Kongo- did not trade with western world, they traded with other Kongo tribes
Male dancer- made to honor women; an honor given to women. Who were young and had given birth successfully. Matrilineal
Recognize the female ancestor who was the founder of the Chokwe ; wooden breasts, walked in a graceful way- with a full dress on the bottom
Enlarged eyes, women tatoo patterns around the eyes
Pushed in chin, slender nose, high forehead, balanced features, almost closed eyes- eyes belong to the inner realm
Her power comes from being able to give birth.
Repaired on one side.

30. Image 175 Bundu Mask from Sierra Leone 20th Century wood.
The features of a Mende mask convey Mende ideals of female morality and physical beauty. They are unusual because the masks are worn by women.[3] The bird on top of the head represents a woman's natural intuition that lets her see and know things that others can't. The high or broad forehead represents good luck or the sharp, contemplative mind of the ideal Mende woman. Downcast eyes symbolize a spiritual nature and it is through these small slits that a woman wearing the mask would look out of. The small mouth signifies the ideal woman's quiet and humble character. The markings on the cheeks are representative of the decorative scars girls receive as they step into womanhood. The scars are a symbol of her new, harder life. The neck rolls are an indication of the health of an ideal women. They have also been called symbols of the pattern of concentric, circular ripples the Mende spirit makes when emerging from the water.[2] In the Mende culture full-figured women are beautiful. The intricate hairstyles reveal the close ties within a community of women. The holes at the base of the mask are where the rest of the costume is attached. These ceremonies can take up to a year and include genital mutilation

31. Full forehead = Wisdom, intelligence
Somnolent, downcast eyes = Modesty
Shining black color = Mystery
Neck rings = Health and prosperity (as well as the mask's mythic rise out of the water)
Birds = Messengers between spirits and humans
Cowries = Wealth
White cloth = Ritual purity
Fish, snakes, tortoises = The riverine home of sowo
Antelope horns and lasimo (scripture) = "Good medicine" (hale nyande)
Three-legged cooking pot = represents sowo as a repository of women's knowledge, and as a symbol of domesticity

32. Igbo wood, 45inches Nigeria
Image 176 Human Face with Animal attributes. In Brooklyn Museum
Ikenga shrine figure- 19th – 20th wooden figure- made for a warrior--
Honors the right hand, which holds the tools or weapons, makes sacrifices and conducts ritual
Human face with animal attributes; made for a warrior, the stool- of honor-
Holds the weapon in the right hand--Wore and holds personal objects that relates to the person who owned it. They were put into the owner’s home. Commissioned by master carver to put in the home. The Ikenga is a place of strength and shows the owners strengths.
Power of the right hand…. Left hand can hold many things- and shows rank- shows the power, the accomplishment for whom this was made.
Symbol representation of a “sacred diploma” that talks about your accomplishments.

33. Igbo figures indicate that we always fight with our heads first and then our arms.
The head important and then the arm..
Made by men , for men, not a portrait.

34. Image 177 Memory Board ( Lukasa) from Luba Mbudye Society in Kongo from 16-20the centuries- Brooklyn Museum
Helps the user remember key elements in a story; history is not linear, it is dynamic and the board is an assist. Read by an elite society (men of memory) and by Kings and by priests.
Court ceremonies. The beads and strings are read. Beads can be people or groups of people. The strings are journeys. The board itself has a back that is amphibious. Represents a crocodile- land and water animal and the indicates the duality of the government.
Migrations
Heros
Kinship
Geneology
Lists of Kings
Held in the left hand and pointed with the right hand
Performance pieces that change as you understand the work better.

35. Image 178 Bamileke mask- Aka elephant mask; Brooklyn Museum
Cameroon
Divorced from the original intension; honoring the king; bringing about social harmony; elephant is the symbol for the king; beadwork is symbol of power as well and a symbol of the Fon- the divine king who could transform into an elephant. The backside was a leopard skin b/c leopards could transform into people. These were worn by court officials. These are 6 ft tall and only this society would wear these symbols. The triangles relate to the leopard skin.
Worn and danced with ,worn with feathers and full body costume. Wave spears, dance barefoot,drums and gongs

36. Ceremony performed annually to show power of the political leaders today.

37. Image 179 Fang Reliquary Figure- Brooklyn Museum- 18 inches , wood, polished
a talisman, and a guard; content of the box was important, beads, medicine, bones of important people, women who bore many children
The Fang were nomadic , calm and dignified, musculature, tubular nature of the body, the herniated belly-button, guardian figures were men and women- taught about the founding fathers of the tribe. The bones travel with the people and need to be tended to and not seen by women or by children. Somber and important figure with rounded and abstract characteristics with a herniated belly button for emphasis on life giving measures. They were taken care of by elder men and consulted on important questions.
(nlo bieri); abstraction on purpose, abstraction. They were also used for education of the young men about ancestors.

38. Image 180 Yoruba– 60x12x
Olowe of Ise ( artist) Veranda post of Enthroned King and Senior Wife
Art Institute of Chicago….palace porch
Women see into the other realm
This veranda post is one of four sculpted for the palace at Ikere by the renowned Yoruba artist Olowe of Ise. It is considered among the artist's masterpieces for the way it embodies his unique style, including the interrelationship of figures, their exaggerated proportions, and the open space between them. While the king is the focal point, his portrayal suggests a ruler's dependence on others. The stately female figure behind the king represents his senior wife. Her large scale and pose, with hands on the king's throne, underscore her importance. She had the critical role of placing the power-invested crown on the king's head during his coronation. Moreover, the senior wife used political acumen and spiritual knowledge to protect the king's interests during his reign. The small figures at the king's feet represent a junior wife, the flute-playing trickster-god Esu, and a fan bearer, now missing. Matrilineal culture.