First African Experience

So I'll be the first to admit that, in the past, art history hasn't been too exciting or interesting to me and I would just get lost in all of it, so I was scared to expect the same with this class about African arts. Instead I was proved wrong, which makes me so happy! :) I don't even know where to start because, so far, every topic has intrigued me to an extent that makes me actually excited for the rest of this semester. 

A certain sculpture is for a spiritual tradition that comes from their culture and it's amazing how it is not just a piece of art by an artist but a piece of every day life. I would have not realized without the movie shown in class and the preface of the book, that it’s almost a shame to be shown sitting in a museum where its presentation is minimal. For example, the masks that the Dogon use for performing a celebration or funeral just look like a mask behind the glass in a museum where its significance is underplayed.

Starting with the Dogon culture, I was immediately interested in the difference of the roles between men and women. How different their lives are seems to be outdated and old fashion with men having authority and power while women are portrayed as a lower level, although still equally important within their community. This is really shown by the use of the granaries that are segregated between the sexes. It seems odd that a family or married couple would have a separate place for goods, money, tools, ect.  Again, art is involved in these everyday huts used for storage by an originally decorated door.

granaries

Another interesting topic of the Dogon is their sculptured figures made of wood used for multiple purposes and meanings with their exaggerated poses and body parts. First, the Tellem nommo figure which is a snake like body figure that represents the continuing of human life. Another figure of the Dogon is the ancestor figure used as sacrificing material. An example is the one with its arms raised for a rain maker used to bring rain to feed the crops and is sacrificed by throwing water on them, talking to their ancestors.  The ancestor couple is also a major figure that shows a man and woman sitting on a stool, which represents the tree of life, with arms around each other. Lastly, the equestrian figure is a man on a horse, which is very powerful and references the Hogon, the spiritual leader.

Tellem Figure

The other group talked about in class was the Asante. They not only have caught my interest in their brightly colored and patterned textiles, which I am excited to explore further with Nani visiting, but their remarkable jewelry and figures. The method used by the Asante of the lost wax casting is so appealing to me because I have used this method before in making jewelry for myself. I can really relate to the process of carving the figure of wax, making a caste of the wax, melting the wax to create where the brass goes to fill the form and going through the heating process to later be cleaned and more refined. It blows my mind that I’ve had the opportunity to do something that sounds so much more important when it’s a process used by the Asante people.

lost wax caste figures

I’m actually very excited and interested in what we will continue to learn about the ‘arts’ of Africa in this class.