African Art

African Art

The Kongo: This ethnic group excels in crafting Central African art and is well-recognized for a number of unique sculptural styles. The Nkisi Nkondi, or the ‘power sculptures’ are wooden figures, symbolizing divine power, that provides spiritual guidance in sealing agreements, healing illnesses and protecting the tribal villages. With plain bodies, the rest of the figure, the hands, feet and face, are finely elaborated.

Western:-exiotic traditional and modern -associated with witchcraft and magic -includes ceramics and metal work-clay pottery (cooking and storage “vessels”)-sometimes using natural resources (gold and broze)-The “Baule” people crave figures from dark word

South:South African art is a stunning example of ancient peoples creating exceptional paintings and engravings showing an inexplicable world. Like all African art, the beauty of the pieces is where the true value lies.

South Africa, as most people know, experienced a colonial era that was followed by apartheid. The colonial invasion and apartheid had a profound influence on art from this region beginning in the 1800s. The traditional African art which was rooted in African aesthetics combined with European realism to form unique pieces admired around the world.

By: Lucy Riehl, Erica Robinson, and Maddy Matan