Marsha K. Russell Introduction to African Art
St. Andrew’s Episcopal School, Austin, TX
African Art
I. Things to remember about African art in general:
• There is no distinction in African cultures between "fine art" and "applied art." In
the western world, "fine art," created by "artists," has greater prestige and might be
displayed in a museum, while "applied art, a.k.a. "craft" or "practical art," gains less
respect since it is intended to be useful, having practical functions in everyday life--like
textiles, pottery, jewelry, furniture--and therefore "does not belong" in a museum. But in
Africa, all art objects have some practical purpose. There is no word for "art" in most
African languages, and museums are not a traditional part of any African culture.
• The art objects made by each African cultural group reflect
• its livelihood (early hunters and gatherers made petroglyphs, herders
emphasize personal adornment such as elaborate hairstyles and jewelry, and
farmers have always been best known for their sculptures made of metal,
wood, and clay.)
• its geography (rock art is found mainly in the desert areas; wooden figures are
found in the forested regions of sub-Saharan Africa; personal adornment is the
focus in the grasslands in eastern and southern Africa.)
• its political organization (masks are a major art form in groups without a
formal "state," in which social order is maintained by masking societies, while
groups with kings create art objects expressing the power and authority of the
divinely-created ruler.)
• its religious beliefs (with greater or lesser emphasis on ancestor worship and
animism)
II. Common Characteristics among African Indigenous Religions
Spiritual Heirarchy:
• Supreme deity: A supreme deity created the universe but now remains distant from
human beings as a result of their imperfection.
• Lesser deities: The supreme deity is worshipped indirectly through lesser deities, each
representing one aspect of God. People communicate with these lesser deities by means
of rituals and sacrifice.
• Nature spirits: The spirits enlivening all things in the natural world are perceived as
guardian spirits who must be appeased.
• Ancestors: The souls of dead family members, who are believed to be actively present
and a continuing part of "the family," act as mediators between their living descendents
and the "higher" spirits.
AND, all spirits can affect humans both positively and negatively. None are inherently
good nor evil, containing both and capable of both in their interactions with people. This
results in a dualistic understanding in which "the unified world is...seen as composed of dual
oppositions: male/female, bush/village, hot/cold, night/day, right/left, up/down, good/bad,
among many others." (G, 608)
, Marsha K. Russell Introduction to African Art
St. Andrew’s Episcopal School, Austin, TX
III. General Characteristics of Sub-Saharan African Sculpture:
• combination of abstraction and naturalism
called jijora, "a moderate resemblance to the
subject, something between absolute abstraction
and absolute likeness" (HF, 705) "Since a spirit,
not a person, is being evoked, naturalism of form,
texture, and color are not prerequisites. We have
here the principle of abstraction used for the
representation of a being not of the natural world."
(Witt, I, 433) "African arts portray an ideal of
resemblance rather than identity. Sculptors in
particular, seek to represent a moral or spiritual
force rather than to make an individual portrait....it
is never totally realistic or totally nonfigurative, Example of jijora in Frank Willett’s African Art.
but rather seeks a balance somewhere between the
two poles." (Witt, 450)
• symmetry around a vertical axis
• curving, tubular, cylindrical, columnar, polar forms, often carved from a
single piece of wood. The curving lines express the energy found in all
nature.
• frontality
• static poses (lack of any movement)
• 'coolness' of facial expression
• use of negative (empty) space is just as important as the use of positive
(filled) space (similar to the importance of the moments of silence between
the rhythmic beats on a drum) The negative spaces, like the silence between
the beats, are not passive but active parts of the rhythmic flow.
• human figures generally show odo, youthfulness, the prime of life
• the physical proportions of a figure reflecting the culture's ideas of what
defines a person, such as an enlarged head or hands or naval, rather than
natural proportions Dogon Primordial Couple,
Metropolitan Museum, NY
IV: Four Kinds of Sculptures (created from clay, metals, and wood):
• Figures: 3 kinds (see below)
• Masks: 3 kinds (see below)
• Ceremonial items--jewelry, decorative weapons, items representing kingship
• Household items--stools, other furniture
Figures: 3 kinds
• Ancestor, done out of both respect for their deceased ancestors and out of fear of their
angry spirits. Ancestor figures are "created as pleasant resting places for spirits. These
sculptures were not created to symbolize a spirit; they were created to contain the spirit of
the deceased person." (M, 273)
Types include:
o primordial ancestors
o royal ancestors/divine kings
o maternity figures
o figures of dead twins, called ere ibejis
St. Andrew’s Episcopal School, Austin, TX
African Art
I. Things to remember about African art in general:
• There is no distinction in African cultures between "fine art" and "applied art." In
the western world, "fine art," created by "artists," has greater prestige and might be
displayed in a museum, while "applied art, a.k.a. "craft" or "practical art," gains less
respect since it is intended to be useful, having practical functions in everyday life--like
textiles, pottery, jewelry, furniture--and therefore "does not belong" in a museum. But in
Africa, all art objects have some practical purpose. There is no word for "art" in most
African languages, and museums are not a traditional part of any African culture.
• The art objects made by each African cultural group reflect
• its livelihood (early hunters and gatherers made petroglyphs, herders
emphasize personal adornment such as elaborate hairstyles and jewelry, and
farmers have always been best known for their sculptures made of metal,
wood, and clay.)
• its geography (rock art is found mainly in the desert areas; wooden figures are
found in the forested regions of sub-Saharan Africa; personal adornment is the
focus in the grasslands in eastern and southern Africa.)
• its political organization (masks are a major art form in groups without a
formal "state," in which social order is maintained by masking societies, while
groups with kings create art objects expressing the power and authority of the
divinely-created ruler.)
• its religious beliefs (with greater or lesser emphasis on ancestor worship and
animism)
II. Common Characteristics among African Indigenous Religions
Spiritual Heirarchy:
• Supreme deity: A supreme deity created the universe but now remains distant from
human beings as a result of their imperfection.
• Lesser deities: The supreme deity is worshipped indirectly through lesser deities, each
representing one aspect of God. People communicate with these lesser deities by means
of rituals and sacrifice.
• Nature spirits: The spirits enlivening all things in the natural world are perceived as
guardian spirits who must be appeased.
• Ancestors: The souls of dead family members, who are believed to be actively present
and a continuing part of "the family," act as mediators between their living descendents
and the "higher" spirits.
AND, all spirits can affect humans both positively and negatively. None are inherently
good nor evil, containing both and capable of both in their interactions with people. This
results in a dualistic understanding in which "the unified world is...seen as composed of dual
oppositions: male/female, bush/village, hot/cold, night/day, right/left, up/down, good/bad,
among many others." (G, 608)
, Marsha K. Russell Introduction to African Art
St. Andrew’s Episcopal School, Austin, TX
III. General Characteristics of Sub-Saharan African Sculpture:
• combination of abstraction and naturalism
called jijora, "a moderate resemblance to the
subject, something between absolute abstraction
and absolute likeness" (HF, 705) "Since a spirit,
not a person, is being evoked, naturalism of form,
texture, and color are not prerequisites. We have
here the principle of abstraction used for the
representation of a being not of the natural world."
(Witt, I, 433) "African arts portray an ideal of
resemblance rather than identity. Sculptors in
particular, seek to represent a moral or spiritual
force rather than to make an individual portrait....it
is never totally realistic or totally nonfigurative, Example of jijora in Frank Willett’s African Art.
but rather seeks a balance somewhere between the
two poles." (Witt, 450)
• symmetry around a vertical axis
• curving, tubular, cylindrical, columnar, polar forms, often carved from a
single piece of wood. The curving lines express the energy found in all
nature.
• frontality
• static poses (lack of any movement)
• 'coolness' of facial expression
• use of negative (empty) space is just as important as the use of positive
(filled) space (similar to the importance of the moments of silence between
the rhythmic beats on a drum) The negative spaces, like the silence between
the beats, are not passive but active parts of the rhythmic flow.
• human figures generally show odo, youthfulness, the prime of life
• the physical proportions of a figure reflecting the culture's ideas of what
defines a person, such as an enlarged head or hands or naval, rather than
natural proportions Dogon Primordial Couple,
Metropolitan Museum, NY
IV: Four Kinds of Sculptures (created from clay, metals, and wood):
• Figures: 3 kinds (see below)
• Masks: 3 kinds (see below)
• Ceremonial items--jewelry, decorative weapons, items representing kingship
• Household items--stools, other furniture
Figures: 3 kinds
• Ancestor, done out of both respect for their deceased ancestors and out of fear of their
angry spirits. Ancestor figures are "created as pleasant resting places for spirits. These
sculptures were not created to symbolize a spirit; they were created to contain the spirit of
the deceased person." (M, 273)
Types include:
o primordial ancestors
o royal ancestors/divine kings
o maternity figures
o figures of dead twins, called ere ibejis
