Dustin Miller, Jimmy Lee, Aileen Jiang, Patrick Huang, Leo Choi Period 1

1. Dustin Miller, Jimmy Lee, Aileen Jiang, Patrick Huang, Leo Choi Period 1 ______ __

3. Introduction Diverse Full of people, societies, and civilizations Unique cultures

4. Art of Africa Rock painting, metalwork, personal decoration, masks, lavish festivals, court/regal regalia, figural sculpture, shrines, domestic & functional arts

5. Honoring ancestors Worshiping nature deities (Animism) Rulers have sacred status Diviners, shaman, ceremonies, spirits Cult figures Fetish figures/objects Reliquary figures

6. Nature deities • Rulers= sacred status • Nomadic traditions, • personal adornment • Decoration of human body • Reliquaries

7. Unifying Artistic Themes Emphasis on human figure Sapi culture near Ivory Coast in West Africa created ivory saltcellars Influence from Portuguese traders Common theme: intermorphosis of human and animal

8. Visual Abstraction Favored over naturalistic representation Many African artworks generalize stylistic norms African art often depicts nature (animals, plant life, natural designs) in abstract interpretations Emphasis on Sculpture Favor 3D artwork over 2D artwork Preferred medium= wood, some ivory Decorating cloths worn as garments– wearer as a living sculpture

9. Sculpture • Mostly portable (Sub-Saharan) • Trees venerated, ivory= prestige • Metal= strength, for royalty • Figurative mostly frontal • Large heads • Abstraction

10. No “art for art’s sake” • Centered around spirituality, spirit world • Ancestors • Clans • Gender roles, fertility

11. African Sculpture

12. Nok Heads 500 BCE- 200 CE

13. Nok Culture In Nigeria 1000 BCE vanished around 500 CE Terracotta figures hollow, coil built, nearly life sized human heads and bodies highly stylized features abundant jewelry varied postures.

14. 15-2 Nok Head • c.200 CE, terracotta • Expressive face • Coiffure with incising • Raised eyebrows • Triangular eyes

16. Ife FiguresEleventh-twelfth centuries These figures are made from zinc and brass. The head was emphasized as a seat of intelligence. Usually was decorated in large amounts of jewelry HEAD= Locus Wisdom

17. 15-6 Ife King • Nigeria, c.1100 • Cast zinc-bronze • Fleshlike moldeling • Idealized, • Enlarged head, locus • naturalized facial features • Beaded costume, detailed • Jewelry of kings

18. Head of King, Ife, Yoruba, c.13th c., zinc brass casting, 12”

19. African Painting The Dogon People 16-19th centuries

20. General Characteristics Favor visual abstraction over naturalistic representation in order to generalize stylistic norms Makes use of highly abstracted and regimented visual canons, especially in painting Uses different colors to represent the qualities and characteristics of an individual being depicted

21. Emphasis on human figure The human figure may symbolize the living or the dead, may reference chiefs, dancers, or various trades such as drummers or hunters, or even may be an anthropomorphic representation of a god or have other votive function.

22. 32-6 Seated Dogon Couple Conceptual (not perceptual) Tubular, abstraction Elongated, smooth surfaces Interlocking neg/pos space Gender roles Protective warrior, genitals, Quiver on back Woman w child on back

23. The Inevitable (cont.) Virtually identical Male w beard, Female w breasts & lip Ornament Male, 1 hand on genitals, 1 hand protective of female Figures on stoo= ancestors

25. 15-10 Ivory Belt Mask • Ivory and Iron, Benin(1440–1897), in NIGERIA • Based on Queen Idia, the mother Benin Kingdom 1504 -1550 • Sensitive naturalism Crown= Portuguese+mudfish Abstract+personality • Worn by Oba, Chief • Scarification • Ideal + natural

27. African Architecture

28. General Characteristics Built to be as cool and comfortable as possible Used mud-brick walls and thatched roofs Mud-brick has to be constantly maintained in the rainy season, so they built in horizontally placed timbers as maintenance ladders

29. Great Mosque of Djenné Made of adobe—baked mixture of clay and straw Wooden beams serve as decoration and as permanent ladders for building maintenance

30. Great Mosque of Djenné (cont.) Ceramic half-pipes extend from roofline and direct rain water away from the walls Parts of a mosque- Quibla wall on northeast side

31. Great Mosque of Djenné • Djenné, Mali • Current, 1907 • Largest adobe structure • Qibla faces Mecca • Half covered • Half open courtyard

32. Exterior of Qibla Wall

35. interior

36. interior

37. Essential feature of the traditional culture and art of the peoples of Sub-Saharan and West Africa Mask-making is an art that is passed on from father to son, along with the knowledge of the symbolic meanings conveyed by such masks

38. African masks were a very important part of the African Culture, although masks are alot less common now, then it was in earlier times. People think that masks are used as a disguise, or a costume, like on Halloween. But Africans wore their masks in ceremonies.

39. Masks are usually made of materials like: wood, cloth, dried leaves, or even animal fur. For decoration, Africans used things such as; bird feathers, dried grass, paint, and twigs. The type of material used really depends on what the Africans were trying to represent. Usually the Africans were trying to represent humans, important animals in their culture, mythical creatures, or gods/goddesses that they believed in.

40. The ceremonies were held to honor the dead, gods/goddesses, animals, and even important people in their society like the king. Masks were never played with. This was because Africans believed that masks were very powerful. Often represent a spirit and it is strongly believed that the spirit of the ancestors possesses the wearer.

41. Masks of human ancestors or totem ancestors (beings or animals to which a clan or family traces its ancestry) are often objects of family pride

42. Ceremony: During the mask ceremony the dancer goes into deep trance, and during this state of mind he  "communicate" with his ancestors. A wise man or translator sometimes accompanies the wearer of the mask during the ritual. The dancer brings forth messages of wisdom from his ancestors. Rituals and ceremonies are always accompanied with song, dance and music, played with traditional African musical instruments.

43. Masks are one of the elements of African art that have most evidently influence European and Western art in general. In the 20th century, artistic movements such as cubism and expressionism have often taken inspiration from the vast and diverse heritage of African masks.

44. Ivory Belt Mask C.1550 ivory/iron Worn by king “Oba”, King of Benin Mudfish design-represents royalty because they live on land and sea, king is both human and divine

45. Jewelry

46. Introduction Symbolic expressions of codes and identity Worn as sign of beauty, wealth, status Jewelry is believed to be able to “protect” and “heal” the wearer Materials: Pendants, colored enamel, precious/ semi-precious stones, beads, amber

47. Techniques Casting, piercing, filigree work, enameling, niello decoration Inherited from Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine traditions

48. Variations To suit needs of different wearers, objects can be borrowed, reworked, and altered Regional styles of ornamentation as artists experimented with new materials Rural areas: Made of silver Geometric forms and decorations Urban areas: Made of gold Floral, arabesque, rounded designs

49. Khamsa Pendant Moroccon hand pendant (khamsa) of silver and copper with six-pointed star A protective symbol in North Africa was the hand Hand-shaped pendants known as khamsa Five fingers relate to the five pillars of Islam– making it a protective amulet or charm

50. Hand Pendant (Khamsa) Hand Pendant with Salamander Motif Morocco Variation of Khamsa Salamander: represents transformation and disguise; also relates to element of fire