top of page

AFRICA

(1100 - 1980 C.E.)

CONTENT: What do you see?

FORM: The details (what you see more exactly). How the artist delivers the content.

CONTEXT: Everything NOT observable.

FUNCTION: The intended purpose of the work.

Assignments:

READINGS: 

SNAPSHOT SHEET: 

 

African Unit Sheet:

APAH 250 Images:

African Unit Sheet:

From earlier Prehistoric Unit:

1.  Apollo 11 stones

4. Running horned woman

Objects used in public rituals:

175. Bundu mask
          -contextual photo

173. Female (Pwo) mask

178. Aka elephant mask
         -contextual photo

174. Portrait mask (Mblo)
          -contextual photo

Objects of Power and Authority:

169. Wall plaque from Oba's palace
           -contextual photo of Oba of Benin

171. Ndop (portrait of King Mishe miShyaang

         maMbul)

180. Veranda post of enthroned king and

         senior wife
170. Sika dwa kofi (Golden stool)
           -contextual photo

Object of Memory:

177. Lukasa (memory board)
         -contextual photo

Objects connecting religious belief:

172. Power figure (Nkisi n'kondi)

179. Reliquary figure (byeri)

176. Ikenga (shrine figure)

Architecture of power and authority:

167. Conical tower and circular wall of      

        Great Zimbabwe

Major Civilizations

  • Nok (500 BCE-200 CE)         Nigeria

  • Great Zimbabwe (11th- 15th c.)    Zimbabwe

  • Ife Culture (11th-12th c.)       Nigeria

  • Aksum (1200-1527)               Ethiopia

  • Benin (13th-19th c.)               Nigeria

  • Mende (19th-20th c.)             Sierra Leone

  • Kongo (19th-20th c.)             Congo


Key Ideas

  • Centered around spirituality, the spirit world, and the role of ancestors is huge to incorporate into artworks

  • Fertility of man and of the land is key

  • Most common materials are wood, ivory, and metal

  • Mostly utilitarian, usually for ceremonies

  • Architecture is predominately mud brick

  • Stone used in Zimbabwe and Ethiopian churches

bottom of page