What is the concept of African identity?
African identity is “being-with” as op- posed to the Western individualism, communalism as oppose to collectivism. African “self” is rooted in the family-hood. The West battered African World view and cultural heritage, with the racialism, slave trade, colonization and other Western ideologies.
What is African art history?
African art describes the modern and historical paintings, sculptures, installations, and other visual culture from native or indigenous Africans and the African continent. For more than a millennium, the art of such areas had formed part of Berber or Islamic art, although with many particular local characteristics.
What are 3 characteristics of African art?
Among these are innovation of form—i.e., the concern on the part of the African artist with innovation and creativity; visual abstraction and conventionalization; a visual combination of balanced composition and asymmetry; the primacy of sculpture; the transformation and adornment of the human body; and a general …
What influenced African art?
Because of colonialism and slavery, African art found its way around the world. First presented as curiosities of primitive cultures, objects such as masks and sculptures influenced European artists looking for a new vocabulary that didn’t rely on Realism.
What makes African art unique?
Though many casual observers tend to generalize “traditional” African art, the continent is actually full of a multitude of peoples, societies, and civilizations, each with a unique visual culture. Visual Abstraction – African artworks tend to favor visual abstraction over naturalistic representation.
What culture heavily influenced the art of ancient Africa?
The art of northern Africa was heavily influenced by the Arabs after the Islam conquest. Similarly, the art of Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa was influenced by Europe and Christianity. There is also the well preserved art of Ancient Egypt found in temples and burial chambers.
Which is often a characteristic of traditional African art?
Elongated necks, enlarged heads and arms, pointed breasts, and the like are often found in human being forms which are frequently the subject of African art. These are examples of the notable dynamic forms in this art, representing vitality, power, and boldness of humanity.
What are the key characteristics of African philosophy?
Contemporary African philosophers have established a general structure of religions other than Christianity and Islam and based on the following elements: a supreme being or force who created the world, which depends on him for its continuous existence; divinities or spirits or forces that are active in the world; …
Why is African philosophy important?
First, African philosophy queries the habitual universality claims of Western philosophy; second, African philosophy offers insights into dimensions of human experience made uniquely available through African metaphysical beliefs and normative commitments.
What was the history of African American Art?
In the 1980s African American art was the subject of a number of pioneering exhibitions, such as Black Art—Ancestral Legacy: The African Impulse in African American Art (Dallas Museum of Art, 1989), that brought together the works of African, Caribbean and African American academic and folk artists.
What kind of art is found in Africa?
African art, the visual arts of native Africa, particularly sub-Saharan Africa, including such media as sculpture, painting, pottery, rock art, textiles, masks, personal decoration, and jewelry. For more general explorations of media, see individual media articles (e.g., painting , sculpture , pottery , and textile ).
Who are some famous black artists of the 19th century?
Among the leading black sculptors of the 19th century were Eugene Warbourg and Mary Edmonia Lewis, the first professional African American sculptor. The most distinguished African American artist who worked in the 19th century was Henry Ossawa Tanner, who painted African American genre subjects and reflects the realist tradition.
What was the art like in precolonial Africa?
Another misapprehension is that in the West art is created for art’s sake, while in precolonial Africa art was solely functional.