Result of the research : 'craft'
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African art
African art constitutes one of the most diverse legacies on earth. Though many casual observers tend to generalize "traditional" African art, the continent is full of peoples, societies, and civilizations, each with a unique visual special culture. The definition also includes the art of the African Diasporas, such as the art of African Americans. Despite this diversity, there are some unifying artistic themes when considering the totality of the visual culture from the continent of Africa.
* Emphasis on the human figure: The human figure has always been a the primary subject matter for most African art, and this emphasis even influenced certain European traditions. For example in the fifteenth century Portugal traded with the Sapi culture near the Ivory Coast in West Africa, who created elaborate ivory saltcellars that were hybrids of African and European designs, most notably in the addition of the human figure (the human figure typically did not appear in Portuguese saltcellars). The human figure may symbolize the living or the dead, may reference chiefs, dancers, or various trades such as drummers or hunters, or even may be an anthropomorphic representation of a god or have other votive function. Another common theme is the inter-morphosis of human and animal.
Yoruba bronze head sculpture, Ife, Nigeria c. 12th century A.D.
* Visual abstraction: African artworks tend to favor visual abstraction over naturalistic representation. This is because many African artworks generalize stylistic norms. Ancient Egyptian art, also usually thought of as naturalistically depictive, makes use of highly abstracted and regimented visual canons, especially in painting, as well as the use of different colors to represent the qualities and characteristics of an individual being depicted.
* Emphasis on sculpture: African artists
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Africa, Oceania and the Indigenous Americas | |
The Department oversees four separate collection segments: the arts of
Africa, Egypt, the South Pacific and the Indigenous Americas.
Reflecting current scholarship and geography, Egyptian art is now a
sub-section of this department. African art thus consists of works from
the rest of Africa other than Egypt.
 African ArtThe
DIA’s African art collection ranks among the finest in the United
States. It comprises some rare world-class works from nearly one
hundred African cultures, predominantly from regions south of the
Sahara desert. A diverse collection, ranging from sculpture to textiles
to exquisite utilitarian wares, religious paraphernalia and bodily
ornaments, it is heavily weighted toward the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries. African art collecting is
inextricably tied to the founding of the Detroit Institute of Arts at
the turn of 20th century and remains one of the institution’s important
hallmarks. From the late 1800s through the 1930s, generous
contributions from some of Detroit’s first collectors, such as
Frederick Stearns and Robert Tannahill, helped to develop the core
collection. This included priceless works, such as several Benin royal
brass sculptures, an exquisite 16th century Kongo Afro-Portuguese ivory
knife container, a 17th century Owo ivory bracelet, a Kongo steatite
funerary figure (ntadi) and a finely crafted Asante royal gold
soul-washer’s badge recovered from the chamber of the nineteenth
century Asante King, Kofi Karikari. Support from the City of Detroit
has since aided the purchase of additional works of |
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Masks
The viewing of masks is often restricted to certain peoples or places,
even when used in performance, or masquerade. African masks manifest
spirits of ancestors or nature as well as characters that are spiritual
and social forces. During a masquerade, which is performed during
ceremonial occasions such as agricultural, initiation, leadership and
funerary rites, the mask becomes the otherworld being. When collected
by Western cultures, masks are often displayed without their costume
ensemble and lack the words, music and movement, or dance, that are
integral to the context of African masquerades.
Visually, masks are often a combination of human and animal traits.
They can be made of wood, natural or man-made fibers, cloth and animal
skin. Masks are usually worn with costumes and can, to some extent, be
categorized by form, which includes face masks, crest masks, cap masks,
helmet masks, shoulder masks, and fiber and body masks. Maskettes,
which are shaped like masks, are smaller and are not worn on or over
the face. They may be worn on an individual’s arm or hip or hung on a
fence or other structure near the performance area.
Sculpture
The cultures of Africa have created a world-renowned tradition of
three-dimensional and relief sculpture. Everyday and ceremonial works
of great delicacy and surface detail are fashioned by artists using
carving, modeling, smithing and casting techniques. Masks, figures,
musical instruments, containers, furniture, tools and equipment are all
part of the sculptor’s repertoire.
The human figure is perhaps the most prominent sculptural form in
Africa, as it has been for millennia. Male and female images in wood,
ivory, bone, stone, earth, fired clay, iron and copper alloy embody
cultural values, depict the ideal and represent spirits, ancestors and
deities. Used in a broad range of contexts--initiation, healing,
divination,
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Jacques Chirac22nd President of the French Republic5th President of the Fifth RepublicCo-Prince of AndorraIn office17 May 1995 – 16 May 2007Prime Minister Alain JuppéLionel JospinJean-Pierre RaffarinDominique de VillepinPreceded by François MitterrandSucceeded by Nicolas SarkozyMayor of ParisIn office20 March 1977 – 16 May 1995Preceded by Office CreatedSucceeded by Jean Tiberi159th Prime Minister of France10th Prime Minister of Fifth Republic
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African traditional religion
African traditional religions, also referred to as African indigenous religions or African tribal religions, is a term referring to a variety of religions indigenous to the continent of Africa. Like tribal religions from other parts of the world, African religious traditions are defined largely along community lines.
Traditional African religions involve teachings, practices, and rituals that lend structure to indigenous African societies. These traditional African religions also play a large part in the cultural understanding and awareness of the people of their communities.
African Traditional Religion and Language
Most traditional African religions have, for most of their existence, been orally/spiritually (rather than scripturally) transmitted. Thus, linguistic experts such as Christopher Ehret and Placide Tempels have applied their knowledge of languages towards reconstructing the original core beliefs of the followers of these traditions. The four linguistic phylums spoken in Africa are: Afro-Asiatic, Nilo-Saharan, Niger-Congo, and Khoi-San.
Afro-Asiatic Spirituality
According to linguist Christopher Ehret, traditional religion among Afro-Asiatic-speaking (Afrasan) peoples was originally henotheistic in nature. In this sense, each clan gave
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Claude Lévi-Strauss
20th-century philosophy
Full name Claude Lévi-Strauss
Born 28 November 1908 (1908-11-28) (age 100)
Brussels, Belgium
School/tradition Structuralism
Claude Lévi-Strauss; born 28 November 1908) is a French anthropologist.
Biography
Claude Lévi-Strauss, born in Brussels, grew up in Paris, living in a street of the 16th arrondissement named after the artist Nicolas Poussin, whose work he later admired and wrote about. Lévi-Strauss's father was also a painter, and Claude was born in Brussels because his father had taken a contract to paint there.
At the Sorbonne in Paris, Lévi-Strauss studied law and philosophy. After an epiphany resulting from a late night conversation strolling around the grounds of True's Yard, King's Lynn with renowned cryptozoologist Lewis Daly,he did not pursue his study of law but agrégated in philosophy in 1931. In 1935, after a few years of secondary-school teaching, he took up a last-minute offer to be part of a French cultural mission to Brazil in which he
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Paul Klee
Born 18 December 1879
Münchenbuchsee bei Bern, Switzerland
Died 29 June 1940 (aged 60)
Muralto, Switzerland
Nationality German/Swiss
Training Academy of Fine Arts, Munich
Works more than 10,000 paintings, drawings, and etchings, including The Twittering Machine (1922), Fish Magic (1925), Viaducts Break Ranks (1937).
Paul Klee (18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss painter of German nationality. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. He was, as well, a student of orientalism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented with and eventually mastered color theory, and wrote extensively about it. His works reflect his dry humor and his sometimes child-like perspective, his personal moods and beliefs, and his musicality. He and his friend, the Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky, both taught at the German Bauhaus school of art and architecture.
Early life and training
“ First of all, the art of living; then as my
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André Malraux
André Malraux (3 November 1901 – 23 November 1976) was a French author, adventurer and statesman, and a dominant figure in French politics and culture.
Biography
Malraux was born in Paris in 1901. His parents separated in 1905 and eventually divorced. He was raised by his mother and maternal grandmother, Berthe and Adrienne Lamy. His father, a stockbroker, committed suicide in 1930. Andre had Tourette's Syndrome during his childhood, resulting in motor and vocal tics. This may have contributed to his animated and memorable oratory style later in life.
At the age of 21, Malraux left for Cambodia with his new wife Clara Goldschmidt. In Cambodia, he undertook an exploratory expedition into the Cambodian jungle. On his return he was arrested by French colonial authorities for removing bas-reliefs from one of the temples he discovered. Banteay Srei. The French government itself had removed large numbers of sculptures and artifacts from already discovered sites such as Angkor Wat around this time. Malraux later incorporated the episode into his second novel La Voie Royale.
Malraux became highly critical of the French colonial authorities in Indochina, and in 1925 helped to organize the Young Annam League and founded a newspaper Indochina in Chains.
On his return to France, he published
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Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso 1962
Birth name Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso
Born 25 October 1881(1881-10-25)
Málaga, Spain
Died 8 April 1973 (aged 91)
Mougins, France
Nationality Spanish
Field Painting, Drawing, Sculpture, Printmaking, Ceramics
Training Jose Ruíz (father), Academy of Arts, Madrid
Movement Cubism
Works Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907)
Guernica (1937) The Weeping Woman (1937)
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, draughtsman, and sculptor. Commonly known simply as Picasso, he is one of the most
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Museo Etnografico Africa-Mozambico
Bari
The artifacts come from the African Mission of Capuchin firars in Mozambique: they include masks, musical instruments, objetcs made of ivory as well as a lot of documents.
Museo Villaggio Africano
Basella di Urgnano
The works exhibited in this museum-village since 1984 come from the collection of a Passionist Missionaries, a religious congregation founded in 1743. Tribal handcraft works are on display in the museum-village but some are also for sale. The profits go to the congregation whicj helps people in Africa. The objects come mainly from Sub-Saharan Africa (Dogon, Baule, Mahongwe).
Museo Civico di Scienze Naturali "Enrico Caffi"
Bergamo
The museum was born in 1917 when the cabinet of curiosities of the Royal Technical Institute was merged with several private collections of the area. After several places, it was finally established in the sumptuous Piazza Cittadella palace in 1960. The ethnographical section just opened: the largest part of the collection was brought back by Costantino Beltrami, who "discovered" the source of the Mississipi River; it includes
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Art
Art is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music and literature. The meaning of art is explored in a branch of philosophy known as aesthetics.
The definition and evaluation of art has become especially problematic since the early 20th century. Richard Wollheim distinguishes three approaches: the Realist, whereby aesthetic quality is an absolute value independent of any human view; the Objectivist, whereby it is also an absolute value, but is dependent on general human experience; and the Relativist position, whereby it is not an absolute value, but depends on, and varies with, the human experience of different humans. An object may be characterized by the intentions, or lack thereof, of its creator, regardless of its apparent purpose. A cup, which ostensibly can be used as a container, may be considered art if intended solely as an ornament, while a painting may be deemed craft if mass-produced.
Traditionally, the term art was used to refer to any skill or mastery. This conception changed during the Romantic period, when art came to be seen as "a special faculty of the human mind to be classified with religion and science". Generally, art is made with the intention of stimulating thoughts and emotions.
The nature of art has been described by Richard Wollheim as "one of the most elusive of the traditional problems of human culture". It has been defined
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African traditional masks
There are an enormous variety of masks used in Africa. In West Africa, masks are used in masquerades that form part of religious ceremonies enacted to contact with spirits and ancestors.
The Yoruba, Igbo and Edo cultures, including Egungun Masquerades and Northern Edo Masquerades. The masks are usually carved with an extraordinary skill and variety by artists who will usually have received their training as an apprentice to a master carver - frequently it is a tradition that has been passed down within a family through many generations. Such an artist holds a respected position in tribal society because of the work that he/she creates, embodying not only complex craft techniques but also spiritual/social and symbolic knowledge. African masks are also used in the Mas or Masquerade of the Caribbean Carnival.
African masks are made from different materials: wood, bronze, brass, copper, ivory, terra cotta and glazed pottery, raffia and textiles. Some African masks are colourful. Many African masks represent animals. Some African tribes believe that the animal masks can help them communicate with the spirits who live in forests or open savannas. People of Burkina Faso known as the Bwa and Nuna call to the spirit to stop destruction. The Dogon of Mali have complex religions that also have animal masks. Their beliefs are in three main cults - the Awa, cult of the dead, Bini, cult of communication with spirits and Lebe, cult of earth and nature. These three main cults nevertheless use seventy-eight different types of masks. Most of the ceremonies of the Dogon culture are secret, although the antelope dance is shown to non-Dogons. The antelope masks are rough rectangular boxes with several horns coming out of the top. The Dogons are expert agriculturists and the antelope symbolizes a hard working farmer.
Another culture that has a very rich agricultural tradition is the
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Constantin Brâncuşi
Constantin Brâncuşi; Photograph taken by Edward Steichen in 1922.
Born February 19, 1876(1876-02-19)
Hobiţa, Romania
Died March 16, 1957 (aged 81)
Paris, France
Nationality Romanian
Field sculpture
Training École des Beaux-Arts
Movement Modernism
Works Bird in Space, The Endless Column
Patrons John Quinn
Awards Romanian Academy
Constantin Brâncuşi (Romanian pronunciation: [konstanˈtin brɨnˈkuʃʲ]; February 19, 1876 – March 16, 1957) was an internationally renowned Romanian sculptor whose sculptures, which blend simplicity and sophistication, led the way for modernist sculptors.
Early
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Les collections d'art africain dans les musées du monde
L'Amérique
Bermudes
Hamilton
Bermuda National Gallery
City Hall, Church Street
lu-sa 10-16
Arts d'Afrique occidentale: Bamana, Bwa, Bete, Guro, Yaoure, Senufo, Ashanti, Yoruba, Ibo, Bamileke...
Brésil
Bahia
Museu Afro-Brasileiro. Universidade Federal da Bahia
Terreiro de Jesus
ma-sa 9-17
Arts et objets cultuels d'Afrique Noire: Yoruba...
Sao Paulo
Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia. Universidade de Sao Paulo
Cidade Universitaria. Av. Prof Almeida Prado
ma-ve 9-17; sa 10-14
Ethnographie de l'Afrique noire. Exposition permanente "Culturas e Sociedades"
Canada
Calgary
Glenbow Museum
130 9th Avenue S.E.
ma-di 9-17
Arts d'Afrique occidentale: Baga, Senufo, Ashanti, Yoruba, Ibo, Yaunde, Bamileke... (non exposés en permanence)
Kingston (Ontario)
Agnes Etherington Art Centre. Queens University
Queens University Campus
ma-ve 10-17; sa-di 13-17
Arts d'Afrique occidentale: Bidyogo, Dogon, Bamana, Bankoni, Mossi, Dan, Senufo, Baule, Yaure, Anyi, Ashanti, Fanti...
Arts du Nigeria: Yoruba, Ibo, Urhobo, Koro, Mama, Kaka...
Arts du Gabon et du Congo: Fang, Kota, Bembe, Kongo, Yombe, Pende, Luba, Hemba, Lega, Songye, Tshokwe... (Coll. Lang)
Montréal
Musée des beaux-arts
1379-1380 rue
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Africa since 1935
Research Director
Professor A. A. Mazrui (Kenya)
Co-Director
C. Wondji (Ivory Coast)
Arts and society since 1935
J. VANSINA
Across Africa today the arts give the show an amazing cauldron of creativity emerged with a dizzying diversity of all layers of society. Many new artistic trends date from the second half of the colonial period. Besides, some pioneers are still working today. After all, it is past two generations since 1935. But in that short time, the artistic activity was a richness and diversity as this chapter may at most trace the main lines of its evolution (1).
Initially, we must enumerate a few general features of social and cultural matrix that is all. These are: the growing impact but unevenly distributed in Europe, the growth of cities, social stratification more trenches that lead to the formation of new classes, the industrial division of time has reached the beaches of leisure may be devoted to the practice and enjoyment of the arts, the prestige associated with the technical and technical training, changing the place and role of the artist in society, past status of artisan to that of cultural soothsayer The change in attitude toward art and their use, alteration of values in general and more specifically the changing religious values. The multiplication of objects of artistic production offers new opportunities, these are just
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Africa under colonial rule, 1880-1935
Research Director
Professor A. A. Boahen (Ghana)
In February 1976, in Nigeria, a man was arrested at a police checkpoint between Ibadan and Lagos. He was carrying two bags full of bronze sculptures and wood on suspicion of having stolen it affirmât well as the owner. Upon inquiry, the man telling the truth. Recently converted to Islam, he lived and worked in Ibadan at a community center. The effigies of deities carved Yoruba he was carrying had been brought in Ibadan, like many others, by migrant workers to satisfy the spiritual aspirations of these artisans, shopkeepers, civil servants and other migrant workers in their temporary residence. But the leader of the community, having converted to Islam, began in turn to convert their neighbors. Converted in his turn, the suspect heard himself served as symbols of their ancient faith were to disappear to allow the community center to become a dwelling worthy of the spiritual presence of Allah. Unable to consider destroying these objects, he resolved to return to his village, place of origin, where they have since been resettled.
This incident is a perfect example of the evolution of cultural forms and their concrete manifestation and at the same time, the survival or the renewal of cultural values from specific forms of domination, whether of a religious or more clearly social. What remained true in 1976 was even more common during this period particularly dramatic external domination of Africa, which saw the submission of an entire people, its social
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The Yoruba
The Yoruba people live on the west coast of Africa in Nigeria and can also be found in the eastern Republic of Benin and Togo. Because the majority of the slaves brought to the Americas were from West Africa Yoruban descendants can also be found in Brazil, Cuba, the Caribbean, and the United States. There are also many Yoruba currently living in Europe, particularly Britain, since Nigeria was once a British colony. The Yoruba are one of the largest cultural groups in Africa. Currently, there are about 40 million Yoruba world-wide. The Yoruba have been living in advanced urban kingdoms for more than 1,500 years. They created a strong economy through farming, trading, and art production. Their outstanding and unique artistic traditions include woodcarving, sculpture, metal work, textiles, and beadwork.
West Africans, such as the Yoruba, have lived in urban societies and have produced extraordinary art work since the 5th century BC. During this time, the Yoruba began to use iron to create metal tools and weapons such as machetes, axes, and hoes. These tools made it easier for the Yoruba to farm the land. They planted crops including yams, their staple food. They also harvested the seeds from the palm oil tree. The seeds from this tree produce a vegetable oil that is used for cooking. Kola nuts were also grown and harvested. Soon the Yoruba began trading with neighboring areas for rice and sorghum. Due to increased agriculture, the Yoruba community began to grow in size and large towns were created. They arranged their communities by clan lines, or extended families. Families who had the same ancestors lived next door to each other in large compounds. An elder was put in charge as the
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The Theodore Monod African Museum, for a long time called museum of Dakar or museum of IFAN, is a museum located in Dakar and part of the fundamental Institute of Black Africa (IFAN), within the University Sheikh Anta Diop.
It is part of official sites receiving writings displayed during Biennial of Dakar.
History
Located on the place Soweto, the building was constructed in 1931 in fashionable Sudanese style then and first sheltered the seat of the Administration Dress rehearsal de l' AOF, then the museum after creation in 1936 by French Theodore Monod de l' Institut of Black Africa (IFAN), which will change name without changing acronym in 1960s. It is only at this instant when collections are really put in the disposition of the public. However the first recording of object dates of 1941.
The museum was renovated in 1995. From January, 2005 till February, 2008, the conservative was Abdoulaye Camara.
For a long time called Africain Art museum, he changes name in 2007, by the presidential decree n ° 2007-1528 of December 13th, 2007 and takes that of Museum Africain Theodore Monod d' Art.
Collections
The museum is devoted to arts and
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art is an art museum located on the eastern edge of Central Park, along what is known as Museum Mile in New York City, USA. It has a permanent collection containing more than two million works of art, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, often referred to simply as "the Met," is one of the world's largest art galleries, and has a much smaller second location in Upper Manhattan, at "The Cloisters," which features medieval art.
Represented in the permanent collection are works of art from classical antiquity and Ancient Egypt, paintings and sculptures from nearly all the European masters, and an extensive collection of American and modern art. The Met also maintains extensive holdings of African, Asian, Oceanic, Byzantine and Islamic art. The museum is also home to encyclopedic collections of musical instruments, costumes and accessories, and antique weapons and armor from around the world. A number of notable interiors, ranging from 1st century Rome through modern American design, are permanently installed in the Met's galleries.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded in 1870 by a group of American citizens. The founders included businessmen and financiers, as well as leading artists and thinkers of the day, who wanted to open a museum to bring art and art education to the American people. It opened on February 20, 1872, and was originally located at 681 Fifth Avenue.
As of 2007, the Met measures almost a quarter mile long and occupies more than two million square feet.
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Sculpture dedicated to Gou divinity of wrought iron and war
Work iron 168cm in height made before 1858 by Akati Ekplékendo
Current Republic of Benin
Lauren Papet, Ecole du Louvre
Arrival in French collections and identification problems
This statue has been reported in France in 1894 by Captain Eugene Fonssagrives following the conquest of Dahomey. It belonged to the spoils of war found in the palaces of Abomey, abandoned by the fleeing King Behanzin, who himself had perhaps made on the side in preparation for the French attack in the hope that the god help protect the kingdom on its most vulnerable border. She was then given directly to the Trocadero Museum of Ethnography, the current Museum of Man (recorded April 30, 1894).
First Fonssagrives was presented as was a representation of Ebo, patron god of Ouidah thesis refuted by Maurice Delafosse in 1894, indicating that the divinity of Ouidah is not the serpent but Ebo Dan. The name "Ebo" would have probably been given Fonssagrives response when he asked what the object (Bo meaning receptacle of supernatural forces). She was named Gou, its present name after World War II, his resemblance to the voodoo (god) of iron and protector of the forge, metal and war have been considered fairly obvious.
Technical Achievement
Government also has a variety of techniques to work with iron: forged, rolled, hammered, nailed and riveted.
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