The Birth of Art in Africa

The Birth of Art in Africa PDF Author: Bernard de Grunne
Publisher: Vilo Publishing
ISBN:
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 134

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Book Description
This unique book presents sculptures from the Nok, Sokoto and Katsina cultures of Nigeria in fascinating detail. The terra-cotta statues, which date from 600BC to 300AD, are the oldest traces of the remarkable tradition of sculpture in sub-Saharan Africa. Varying in size from four-inch miniature amulets to monumental seated and kneeling sculptures, often of kings, priests or soothsayers, the statues also display the very rich variety of headdresses, beads, necklaces and bracelets that existed within these cultures. This book brings is a synthesis of the discoveries made since the groundbreaking 1977 study by Bernard Fagg. An essay on dating methods -- carbon dating and thermoluminescence -- provides the most recent results, as well as detailing new cross-dating techniques. A classification of poses common to the sculptures, and parallel photographic evidence of the continuing decorative tradition, enhance the academic value of this definitive work.

The Birth of Art in Africa

The Birth of Art in Africa PDF Author: Bernard de Grunne
Publisher: Vilo Publishing
ISBN:
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 134

Get Book Here

Book Description
This unique book presents sculptures from the Nok, Sokoto and Katsina cultures of Nigeria in fascinating detail. The terra-cotta statues, which date from 600BC to 300AD, are the oldest traces of the remarkable tradition of sculpture in sub-Saharan Africa. Varying in size from four-inch miniature amulets to monumental seated and kneeling sculptures, often of kings, priests or soothsayers, the statues also display the very rich variety of headdresses, beads, necklaces and bracelets that existed within these cultures. This book brings is a synthesis of the discoveries made since the groundbreaking 1977 study by Bernard Fagg. An essay on dating methods -- carbon dating and thermoluminescence -- provides the most recent results, as well as detailing new cross-dating techniques. A classification of poses common to the sculptures, and parallel photographic evidence of the continuing decorative tradition, enhance the academic value of this definitive work.

The Art of Africa

The Art of Africa PDF Author: Christa Clarke
Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art
ISBN: 1588391906
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 218

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Book Description
A CD-ROM and DVD set extracted from the 'The Art of Africa: A Resource for Educators.' The CD-ROM "contains a PDF of 'The Art of Africa: A Resource for Educators, ' which features forty traditional works of African art in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. It includes a brief overview of the Metropolitan's collection of African art; a short introduction and history of Africa; an explanation of the role of visual expression in the continent; descriptions of the featured works of art and background about the materials and techniques that were used to created them ... The DVD, 'Ci Wara Invocation, ' "presents the highlights of a dozen ci wara performances in Bamana communities in present-day Mali that were recorded by five different observers between 1970-2002. Among the Bamana, oral traditions credit a mythical being named Ci Wara, a divine being half mortal and half antelope, with the introduction of agriculture to the Bamana. The ci wara performances are part of biannual celebrations that either launch or conclude the farming season."--Container

The Birth of Cool

The Birth of Cool PDF Author: Carol Tulloch
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1474262864
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 281

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Book Description
It is broadly recognized that black style had a clear and profound influence on the history of dress in the twentieth century, with black culture and fashion having long been defined as 'cool'. Yet despite this high profile, in-depth explorations of the culture and history of style and dress in the African diaspora are a relatively recent area of enquiry. The Birth of Cool asserts that 'cool' is seen as an arbiter of presence, and relates how both iconic and 'ordinary' black individuals and groups have marked out their lives through the styling of their bodies. Focusing on counter- and sub-cultural contexts, this book investigates the role of dress in the creation and assertion of black identity. From the gardenia corsage worn by Billie Holiday to the work-wear of female African-Jamaican market traders, through to the home-dressmaking of black Britons in the 1960s, and the meaning of a polo-neck jumper as depicted in a 1934 self-portrait by African-American artist Malvin Gray Johnson, this study looks at the ways in which the diaspora experience is expressed through self-image. Spanning the late nineteenth century to the modern day, the book draws on ready-made and homemade fashion, photographs, paintings and films, published and unpublished biographies and letters from Britain, Jamaica, South Africa, and the United States to consider how personal style statements reflect issues of racial and cultural difference. The Birth of Cool is a powerful exploration of how style and dress both initiate and confirm change, and the ways in which they expresses identity and resistance in black culture.

Face of the Gods

Face of the Gods PDF Author: Robert Farris Thompson
Publisher: Prestel Publishing
ISBN:
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Book Description
Thompson examines the altar traditions in cultures from the Atlantic coast region of Africa, South America, the Caribbean, and the United States.

A History of Art in Africa

A History of Art in Africa PDF Author: Monica Blackmun Visonà
Publisher: Discontinued 3pd
ISBN:
Category : Art, African
Languages : en
Pages : 552

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Book Description
Informed by the latest scholarship yet written for the general reader, this is the first comprehensive book to present the arts of Africa in art-historical terms. The authors treat individual pieces as tangible manifestations of changing beliefs and customs, as products of complex cultural interactions, as expressions of historical and economic realities, and as creations of gifted individuals, and in so doing brilliantly offer up African art on its own terms. Organized in five major parts, A History of Art in Africa covers every corner of the continent, including Egypt, from prehistory to the present day and includes the art of the African diaspora. The Islamic influence and the Christian arts of Ethiopia and Nubia are treated as fully African expressions, as are tourist arts and the fascinating hybrid art that periodically arose from interaction with Europe. All art forms are given equal consideration: from such familiar categories as sculpture to such quintessentially African forms as masquerades, festivals, and personal and domestic adornment. The arts of daily life, of royal ceremony, and of state cosmology also receive compelling discussions. And throughout, the authors emphasize the cultural contexts in which art is produced and imbued with meaning. Contemporary art forms are explored both as part of the living splendors of modern Africa and as ingenious responses to the experience of diaspora. The illustrations present a vast and rich range of images, including superb colorplates of artworks, archival and contemporary field photographs, explanatory drawings and plans, and individual objects displayed in museums and in use. Book jacket.

An African Journey Through Its Art

An African Journey Through Its Art PDF Author: Fima Lifshitz
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 1438934505
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
There were five. They came together for reasons that no one is even sure of anymore and cut a swath through the universe. Everyone knew their name, and the lined up to follow them. They knew their symbol, the snarling wolf. The warlords formed a following, an almost religion. And then it was over. Years later, and the followings of each of the original warriors have become clans. The clans have grown and trained new warriors over time, creating the driving force in all the universe. Here are four people now, training to follow in the ways of one particular wolf. The wolf that ended it all in the first place, the Blackwolf. This is the start of their journey, the beginning of their training. Gregor Holden, a Prince, who's sense of duty is equaled only by his lust for adventure. Candace Orthon, a legacy who's father is a Blackwolf, who's gradfather was a Blackwolf, and who will be a Blackwolf if it kills her. Ran Grastle, already an accomplished warrior in his own right. He's on the run for a committing a crime to exact justice and cares very little for the clan or anyone else. Xesca, a child of the last planet that the Blackwolf attacked. She has come to learn his ways, his style, so that no one can ever attack her planet again. "These four. If no one else, let these four progress."

Art History in Africa

Art History in Africa PDF Author: J. Vansina
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317869036
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
This is a pioneering introduction to a subject that is still at an early srage of academic development. It aims to provide the reader with a systematic method for the historical understanding of African art. Professor Vansina considers the medium, technique, style and meaning of art objects and examines the creative process through which they come into being. Numerous photographs and drawings illustrate his arguments, and help to explain the changes that have taken place.

Encyclopedia of African History

Encyclopedia of African History PDF Author: Kevin Shillington
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1579582451
Category : Africa
Languages : en
Pages : 1112

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Book Description
Offers more than one thousand entries covering all aspects of African history, civilization, and culture.

African Cosmos

African Cosmos PDF Author: Christine M. Kreamer
Publisher: The Monacelli Press, LLC
ISBN: 1580933432
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 369

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Book Description
A groundbreaking scholarly publication, accompanying an exhibition organized by the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, African Cosmos: Stellar Arts brings together exceptional works of art, dating from ancient times to the present, and essays by leading scholars and contemporary artists to consider African cultural astronomy: creativity and artistic practice in Africa as it is linked to celestial bodies and atmospheric phenomena. African concepts of the universe are intensely personal, placing human beings in relation to the earth and sky, and with the sun, moon, and stars. At the core of creation myths and the foundation of moral values, celestial bodies are often accorded sacred capacities and are part of the “cosmological map” that allows humans to chart their course through life.

Portraiture and Photography in Africa

Portraiture and Photography in Africa PDF Author: John Peffer
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253008727
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 472

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Book Description
Beautifully illustrated, Portrait Photography in Africa offers new interpretations of the cultural and historical roles of photography in Africa. Twelve leading scholars look at early photographs, important photographers' studios, the uses of portraiture in the 19th century, and the current passion for portraits in Africa. They review a variety of topics, including what defines a common culture of photography, the social and political implications of changing technologies for portraiture, and the lasting effects of culture on the idea of the person depicted in the photographic image.