Cultural Encounters : Cultural Encounter, Anthropology And Art

In the late fifteenth century the Portuguese were expanding its kingdom in Africa where it tapped into the existing gold and slave trades of the western Sudan and West Central Africa (Ehret 339). By the early sixteenth century, the Americas became a major player in the global commerce system as the Spanish and Portuguese began to carve at the land and importing and exporting sugar, tobacco, and slaves. Slaves in this moment were the chief commodity that the Portuguese sought from West Central Africa as they provided the free labor that was needed to cultivate and maintain sugar plantations in the Americas. However, the slave trade was not a one-sided system, in fact many African elites, like King Afonso a Nzinga of the Kongo allowed for the buying and selling of African people to Europeans. In other words, Europeans traded with Africa because Africa allowed it to happen, however, there are moment when the demand overshadowed the supply. The slave trade and its many complications is one way in understanding the expanding commercial exchanges between Europeans and West Central Africans during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This essay will analyze the letters King Afonso Nzinga wrote to the King of Portugal, Joao

Africa’s Discovery of Europe, written by David Northrup and much as its name implies, is a monograph detailing Sub-Saharan Africa, starting from 1450 to 1850. This broad timespread starts just before Columbus sailed the ocean blue and ends just beyond the Industrial Revolution. Originally published in 2002, Northrup intended for readers to see Europe from a different perspective; from the lense of African people. The title, Africa’s Discovery of Europe, is interesting within itself. In many cases, majority of people believe it was Europe that opened up the world and conquered the Americas and discovered all this new land, and a sliver of that is true, so many countries surrounding Europe were already major, active players in the modernizing world already. In this case, as Europe was discovering Africa, Africa was also discovering Europe. It switches the mind of the reader from a Eurocentric role to an African one. Northrup discusses how contact was not one-sided, and depicts accurate descriptions of African interactions amongst other Africans and Europeans. Northrup shows the reader that African people were discovering Europe very actively, not passively; African people physically go to European countries and have first-hand experiences with European people and lifestyles.

"Exploring Art: A Global, Thematic Approach, 5th Edition. "Exploring Art: A Global, Thematic Approach: Margaret Lazzari, Dona Schlesier: 9781285858166: Amazon.com: Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 July

In Basil Davidson’s video “Different but Equal,” he outlines the European perception of Africa upon their discovery of the continent. Claims that the Europeans were making about African culture, however, were far fetched and did not depict Africa in a positive manner. History according to pre-European Africa was rich and diverse, but once Europeans saw for themselves how different their continent was from Africa, they began to make up their own version of African history.

A group called the benin artists created a masterpiece that symbolizes royal authority and power. It’s a sculpture of 2 leopards designed as water vessels, used for when the oba washes his hands before ceremonies.

In the kingdom of Benin, making castes with bronze was introduced to the rest of the world. “Now this kind of work is done with clay, and wax, and red metal (copper), and soldier (zinc) and lead, and fire…Next it is set aside to cool, then (the outside covering of clay) is broken off,” (Document 7). The art of creating bronze castes was very popular in Benin and the popularity soon spread to most of Northern Africa.

This success occurred between 300 and 1400. This was especially true with visitors giving perspectives on Timbuktu. Visitors were impressed with the amount of jobs that exist from the kings’ cost, such as the occupation of being a doctor, lawyer or a priest. Timbuktu also had a spread of education when many books and forms of literature were brought to them. The excerpt by a Moroccan traveler states that “various manuscripts and written books are brought here…and sold for more money than other merchandise.” (Document 5). This means that because books were so valuable and so important to their culture, it shows how advanced their society truly is. Bronze sculptures are an example of Benin figures which are seen as a wonder. There were many materials that went into the creative process such as, “ clay, and wax, and red metal [copper], and solder [zinc] and lead, and fire…” as said by an artisan (Document 7). After constructing the figure, you must let it cool down by setting it aside. From that, the clay’s outside breaks off, for the reveal of the sculpture. These beautiful figures of Benin, show progression in the society of Western Africa. In order to be able to create art, there is a rigorous cycle that bases the overall advancement of a kingdom. The cycle began with a surplus of food, which lead to population growth and better health. Then people did not have to worry to such an extent

The controversial scholarly journal of Robert S Wolff explores the history of the first trade encounters between the Portuguese in Africa and Asia, controversy lying in its separation from the Western narrative. Throughout the article, the author is trying to figure out the motives or other considerations playing a role behind the actions of Portuguese and other Europeans, such as choosing violent ways of making a profit in the lands of Africa and Asia, rather than using the existing trade networks, to emerge as the world ruler. In his view, Europeans had claimed themselves to be the “center of the world” way before they have risen to that title. European countries were looking for profitable trade in wealthy lands full of gold, consequently lack of resources and other valuable goods became a barrier to their success in the already existing channels.This is seen in da Gamma’s first encounter with the local ruler of Calicut, where his gifts were considered substandard to that of the poorest merchant, as seen by the local advisor.

In a freezing class, two brilliant minds unlocked the fiery passion that is their talent one an artist the other a writer. Bringing to light a history long forgotten creating abstract thoughts arbitrary to our own. Komi Olaf the artist and Okey Ndibe the writer not only enlightening the class but also the world with each brush stroke and each word. Every creation stemming from the hands of these masters tell of issues at the heart of Africa from colonialism to existential dilemmas. Thru spoken word, hip-hop, art, music, poems and literature issues close at heart to the artists and to Africa are portrayed. This paper will focus on the art exhibit by Komi Olaf and Foreign Gods inc by Okey Ndibe as spoken by them during their discussion in the class on October 13th. Where the talks focused on the key course objectives being stereotypes, post-colonialism, youth culture, and resistance.

The title of the exhibition is called “Intersection: World Arts, Local Lives.” This exhibition opened on September 30, 2006. Some of the pieces displayed on this exhibition were not new, since Professor Brown had already gone over them. The exhibition contained a divination board, vessels, male and female figures, masks, headdresses, staffs, textiles, among others things. The art pieces were from different parts of the world. The exhibition is divided into four different sections, each with its own theme. The different themes were Art and Action, Art and Knowledge, Art and Power, and Art and Transformation. The art found in the museum seemed like it didn’t have any crack, dents, or breaks on them. Professor Brown showed the class some pictures of art pieces that had some broken

Art and painting considers the one of the most effective ways of addressing and communicating the ideas and information about the past. The history is full with many artists and painters who emerged the history of the events and lives of the past people in their paintings and so geared the great attraction of the people in all over the world. Comparatively it is the most meaningful way to deliver the information to the other people and so increase the learning of the students. The visual art considers the most attractive way for many years as the visual things or advertisements leaves the best impression and influence on the viewers.

It is proposed to show that the ethos of European colonial expansion largely defined and classified Benin art and dictated how it should be interpreted and displayed when first seen in European

During the European Renaissance, the immigration of African individual to Europe were mostly for economic purposes which, indirectly caused an increase in cultural diversity within Europe. However, a vast majority of Africans during the European Renaissance were slaves. European’s definition of “civilization” was to classify aliens and divide them into two class, “civilized” and “the barbarian”. To be considered civilized, it depended on a number of factor regarding hierarchical structure, social organisation, and descendant history. This label allowed European to distinguished themselves apart from Africans by labeling them uncivilized. Their notion forecasts the relationship with Africans in the Renaissance. Throughout the European Renaissance, not much was known about Africans due to the European's poor documentation of them. Recovering pieces of Africans’ history, especially the relationship with European, is vital because more knowledge of their past will demystify any misconceptions.

African art has played an important role in the culture of the world. The sculpture is the most common traditional culture expression for the African art. The different sculptures are shown by their local styles and they serve for the specific functions, such as religion. From some of these old art pieces, we figure out this kind of traditional culture expression already existed in the African for such a long time. In this paper, the art piece I am going to analyze is the Female Figure with Child and it made by Akan-Asante people. The Akan people of Ghana have been recognized for their various and attractive culture and it located in what are today Ivory Coast and the republic of Ghana in Western African. The Akan people are combined by different groups, such as the Anyi, Akawpim, Akyem, Aowin and Asante, and these people have their own dialect, but they share a lingua franca, which called Twi. The sculpture I choose could effectively reflect its own distinctive culture, because of the social connection reflect on the royalty, the comparison with other local art pieces, like Akuaba fertility dolls and its specific art form.

This paper reflects the novel “Things Fall Apart” written by Chinua Achebe in 1958. Achebe gives an overview of pre-colonialism and post-colonialism on Igbo, detailing how local traditions and cultural practices can “fall apart” in some scenarios through some introduced, externally created hassles elevated because of colonization. The protagonist named Okonkwo mentioned in the story is a proof showing the lifestyle of the tribe. My main objective and focus is to lay emphasis on Africa specifically the Igbo society, before and after the arrival of the Europeans in Umuofia community; the results of their arrival concerning Igbo culture, thus leading to the clash of cultures between the two categories. I will also draw on post-colonialism with respect to globalization.