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This informative and beautiful volume sheds light on the enduring significance of textiles as a major form of aesthetic expression across Africa, relating long-standing cultural practices to recent creative developments. Some of the finest and oldest preserved examples of West African textile traditions are presented, and both their artistic and technical qualities are examined. Wrapped around the body, fashioned into garments, or displayed as hangings, these magnificent textiles include bold strip weavings and intricately patterned indigo resist-dyed cloths. The influence of African textiles on contemporary artists is also explored, featuring artworks by eight individuals who work in media as far-ranging as sculpture, painting, photography, video, and installation art. A monumental metal tapestry by the Ghanaian El Anatsui that pays tribute to traditional kente prestige cloth while constituting an inventive new genre is discussed in detail. ...
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Idealized pairings have been an enduring concern of sculptors across the African continent. This universal theme of duality is now examined in a handsome book that presents African sculptural masterpieces created in wood, bronze, terracotta, and beadwork from the twelfth to the twentieth centuries. Drawn from twenty-four sub-Saharan African cultures, including those of the Dogon, Lobi, Baule, Senufo, Yoruba, Chamba, Jukun, Songye, and Sakalava, the sculptures tell much about each culture's beliefs and social ideals. These artistic creations are astonishingly rich and diverse forms of expression. An essay written by Alisa LaGamma discusses thirty works, all of which are illustrated in color....
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Pondering the origins of the world and their own ancestry, African societies often sought to provide answers to these and other perplexing concepts in their oral traditions, poetry, and art. The Bamana people of Mali, for example, attributed the invention of agriculture and their understanding of the earth, animals, and plants to a mythical hero called Chi Wara, shown in sculptural form as a roan antelope. The elegant Chi Wara headdresses were created in wood in male-female pairs and worn during agricultural ceremonies. This stimulating volume examines the Chi Wara headdress as an icon of African sculpture and presents forty examples of this well-known form. Major artistic traditions in other African societies-including the Dogon of Mali; the Yoruba of Nigeria; the Bwa, Bobo, Kurumba, and Mossi of Burkina Faso; the Kuba and Luba of the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and the Chokwe of Angola and Zambia-are also discussed in terms of the distinctive cultural perspectives and local traditions that inspired them. The masterworks featured and analyzed are drawn from public and private collections in the United States. This book is the catalogue for an exhibition that will be held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art from November 19, 2002, to April 13, 2003....
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