The Bamana Boli in Mali

The Ibo have a highly religious culture; the base of most of their daily life revolves around religion, whether it is how they raise

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.

The Nok heads and sculptures of Nigeria are made hallow, life-sized terra-cotta figures with a coiling technique commonly used to make pottery vessels (Thames & Hudson, 2015, pg.451). Nok heads were made with clay and although clay is very durable it is also breakable. However, very few sculpture have been found undamaged. The head of the figures was larger than the bodies because the artists wanted to emphasize the association between the head with knowledge and identity. The Nok head below is from Rafin Kura, sculpted in c. 500 BCE-200 CE. Like many Nok heads, this sculpture has a unique hairstyle, with three buns on top. It also has triangular- shaped eyes with holes in the pupils, nostrils, mouth, and

These beautiful figures are done in a special kind of work. A Hausa artisan talks about the making of the figures is, “done with clay and wax, and red metal[copper], and solder[zinc], and lead, and fire… Next it is set aside to cool, then the outside covering of clay is broken off” (Doc 7). This African culture wasn't the only cultural accomplishment in Africa; the Kingdom of Ghana reached a great feat in wealth from the Saharan gold and salt trade. An Arab scholar named Al-Bakri in 1067 described the kings county in Ghana as a, “domed pavilion around which stand ten horses with gold embroidered trappings.

Mali the Empire Mali, an ancient civilization, was unquestionably an Empire due to their secure government, wealthy economy, and strong religious faith. Mali rose to power in 1235 after Ghana fell. Domination and riches were quickly gained through control of the gold and salt trade, an essential commerce system in Western Africa. Mansa Musa, Mali’s most admired king, had a huge affect on the success of the nation for his expertise in organization brought more wealth to the Empire. Firstly, the King of Mali ruled the Empire strictly, but was respectful of his people’s rights.

Modern figurines of art stem directly from the hands of the ancient’s. The organic forms of modernly sculpted artifacts can most likely be directly referenced to the movements of prehistoric artworks. There seems to be an ongoing transition on how cultures no matter how stretched apart through time, contrasted by ethnicity or religious views; can all be somewhat related to each other by the methods or principles portrayed through their artworks. In fact, I saw that very transition; within two works in which are extremely different in meaning, craftsmanship, time, culture and so on. However, I was still able to find similarities within the artifacts. In this paper I will examine Venus of Willendorf, a Paleolithic carving in limestone; which can fit in the palm of one’s hand. As well as, The Sacrifice of Chacmool, which are a plethora of Mesoamerican statues emulating rituals of sacrifice.

Cloths cover sculptures and masks are stored in a bag hanging in rafters, only to be handled during a performance (Vogel 64). The Baule never display or examine their art. In fact, the Baule do not view such pieces to be art (Bolin 49) and would not think of them as a separate category; they are just things people live with. "Art cannot be described from a Baule point of view at all, simply because their view does include art in the Western sense of the word," (Vogel 64). A Western viewer would be likely to scrutinize such works of art, yet the Baule would only glance at it indirectly (Bolin 49). In fact, it is believed by the Baule if a woman accidently looks on a scared men's mask she will die unless extreme measures are taken to save her life (Wilkin 32). The Baule focus on the divine presence associated with the object while a Westerner may only be slightly concerned with the material form of the object. Although art is rarely seen by Baule villagers, it is present in their minds, imaginations, and dreams. Each person's recollection or experience with a sculpture or mask will be different (Vogel 64). A Westerner may question how well a memory can account for details of a mask or sculpture, yet the Baule feel the memories hold a significance within the artwork itself. The existence of artwork in Baule life is powerful, lasting, and visual, specifically because the works

This sculpture is of a women breast feeding her child. The face of the two people is elongated, as well as the breasts of the mother. This is common to all African Art because they wanted representation of what is being expressed. In this particular sculpture, a supernatural power is being called upon. The power has been asked to protect the mother and child, and to

The sculptures and paint show details how society viewed and interpreted women body, sexuality, and maternity. In addition, revealed that these women were protected from threats around them with ornaments. Civilizations since early times, believed that we were in permanent threat from forces we do not see or cannot explain and because of it, we protected ourselves with artificial elements in a form of jewelry, crowns or caps. This idea has been continue from one generation to the next to the point that in modern societies some of us still use this type of protection in our bodies (e.g., small cross, divine images, tattoos, etc.).These pieces of art also indicate that humans believed in gods with superpowers and they are looking over us constantly. Humanity also believes in dark forces or demons trying to makes us do things that would upset the good gods. Some of the differences between these sculptures and paint are the material in which each one of them were created. The first figure, the Woman of Willendorf was carved in limestone, the second piece, the portrait of Queen Tiye was carved in wood and the last piece, the Virgin and Child Icon was created of tempera on a wood. You can also notice how the details on their faces and bodies changes throughout the time and years. The woman of Willendorf figurine offers details of a voluptuous nude women’s body but there is not face, or feet. Queen Tiye statue shows the face of a woman in detail closed to the gods but without any body parts and lastly The Virgin and Child Icon, is an expression of divinity of the views, reflections and beliefs from the gospel. Because communities started to innovate on the art of carving and painting, populations began to discover and/or create art with the objective of expressing different purposes of our daily lives, such as the beauty of a woman’s body, or to commemorate an ancient

Speaking on Monday evening at Kisii culture hall during a community policing sensitization forum,Mwangi challenged all bodaboda

As well as maintaining good morals and values, the Ibo people further connected with their gods and ancestors through the act of sacrifice. The Ibo people would sacrifice anything from fruit, small animals and in some instances, people. On page 17, Unoka explains that, “before I put any crop in the earth, I sacrifice a cock to Ani, the owner of all land. It is the law of our fathers. I also kill a cock at the shrine of Ifejioku, the god of yams.” Although some of the practices of the Ibo religion may seem harsh, its primary goal is to maintain a peaceful and just society. Just as the Ibo celebrate religion with their gods, they also celebrate with each other. Later on page 97, Tortoise explains that he has, “…learned that a man who makes trouble for others is also making it for himself,” which demonstrates how the Ibo people followed principles similar to that of the “golden rule” found in many other religions of the time.

The histories of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai are not well documented. Much of what we know is a mixture of legend, stories and secondhand accounts. North Africa has small coastal areas, some savanna areas, but it is mostly made up of the sahara desert. It is a very dry and hot region. West Africa has some desert areas, wet and dry grasslands, small rainforest, and long rivers, like the Niger River. It has some vegetation areas, but it also has some dry and hot areas. According to legend, Ghana started when a foreigner named Dhinga had to kill a goblin, and marry the goblins pretty daughters. Their offspring became ancestors of the ruling Soninke clans. After he died, his son Dyabe defeated his brother and founded the empire of Ghana somewhere

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.

     Like African paintings, poetry, and woodcarvings, sculptures tell a tale and immortalize cultures and beliefs. Different artists have different styles (African Arts Information). Materials and styles differ from village to village. Most sculptors use green wood, copper, tin, zinc alloys, bronze, ivory, or terra cotta, a kind of earth ware. Most sculpture figures are believed to contain ancestor’s spirits. Others represent sacred ideas or events (Fetzer 106). Some objects are said to be magical and believed to have magical powers (African Arts). Africans carve figures, make masks, and decorate articles for ceremonies (Fetzer 106).

To really understand a culture and their music you have to have a good understanding of the instrument and the role that it plays. This is super crucial for Zimbabwe music where almost everything is connected to the spirits and a way of life. The mbira has been around for countless years and plays a large role in the communities of the Shona of Zimbabwe. As with many different cultures around the world the Shona believe that there is a spirit world and they communicate with it. The mbira dzavadzimu is not just an instrument to make beautiful music with but it is a tool to connect with the spirit world.