[PDF] Art And Death In A Senufo Village eBook

Author : Elizabeth Skidmore Sasser
Publisher : Texas Tech University Press
Page : 222 pages
File Size : 38,72 MB
Release : 1995
Category : Art
ISBN : 9780896723467

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The World of Spirits and Ancestors in the Art of Western Sub-Saharan Africa illustrates for the first time a collection of African Sculpture at the Museum of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. The masks and figurative carvings from the late nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century are from two sources: Ambassador and Mrs. Julius Walker's gift to ICASALS (International Center for Arid and Semiarid Land Studies), now on permanent loan to the Museum, and the Elliot Howard Collection. Howard, an artist and authority on antiques, chose examples of sculpture for their "variety and aesthetic appeal". His hope was that the pieces he assembled would provide new discoveries for those unacquainted with the art of Africa and an art experience that would "enhance mutual respect among people". Fittingly, then, a context for understanding is the focus of Elizabeth Skidmore Sasser's book. As the title suggests, The World of Spirits and Ancestors introduces carefully chosen examples of masks and figures as social and spiritual communications imbued with the living history and culture of the various peoples of western sub-Saharan Africa. Sasser emphasizes that geography and climate - ranging from semiarid deserts to tropical rain forests - influence not only the art but also the habitations and ceremonial life of the region. More than 180 drawings and illustrations reflect the creative genius that continues to meet environmental challenges and to express the distinctive contributions of the cultures and the people of western sub-Saharan Africa.

Author : Rosalind Hackett
Publisher : A&C Black
Page : 240 pages
File Size : 22,96 MB
Release : 1998-10-01
Category : Religion
ISBN : 0826436552

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Africa's religious and artistic traditions constitute a primary example of its intellectual and cultural vitality. Artistic works play a vital role - especially where oral traditions dominate - in communicating ideas about the relationship between the human, spiritual and natural worlds. This work is a comparative study of Africa's visual and performing arts, concentrating on their geographical, material and gendered diversity, and focusing on the relation of these arts to African religion. The author combines ethnographic and art-historical methodology but does not assume any prior knowledge of African art or African religion. The text seeks a greater understanding of the philosophical and religious aspects of African art, thus challenging western perceptions of what is "important" in terms of artistic representation. This approach reveals the transformative capacities and multi-dimensionality of African art. The work also highlights the changes brought about by Christianity, Islam and the newer religious movements in post-colonial Africa.

Author : Carol Magee
Publisher : Univ. Press of Mississippi
Page : 280 pages
File Size : 12,59 MB
Release : 2012-04-26
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 1617031534

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In the American world, the presence of African culture is sometimes fully embodied and sometimes leaves only a trace. Africa in the American Imagination: Popular Culture, Racialized Identities, and African Visual Culture explores this presence, examining Mattel's world of Barbie, the 1996 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, and Disney World, each of which repackages African visual culture for consumers. Because these cultural icons permeate American life, they represent the broader U.S. culture and its relationship to African culture. This study integrates approaches from art history and visual culture studies with those from culture, race, and popular culture studies to analyze this interchange. Two major threads weave throughout. One analyzes how the presentation of African visual culture in these popular culture forms conceptualizes Africa for the American public. The other investigates the way the uses of African visual culture focuses America's own self-awareness, particularly around black and white racialized identities. In exploring the multiple meanings that “Africa” has in American popular culture, Africa in the American Imagination argues that these cultural products embody multiple perspectives and speak to various sociopolitical contexts: the Cold War, civil rights, and contemporary eras of the United States; the apartheid and post-apartheid eras of South Africa; the colonial and postcolonial eras of Ghana; and the European era of African colonization.

Author : Eugenia W. Herbert
Publisher : Indiana University Press
Page : 302 pages
File Size : 44,51 MB
Release : 1994-01-22
Category : History
ISBN : 9780253115966

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"[Herbert] has constructed a model of power relationships structured upon gender and age, and derived from male transformative processes, and in so doing has written a notable, and most enjoyable, book." -- African History "Herbert examines with great care and thoroughness the relationships between gender and power and the rationales that give them social form.... [Her] analytical ability is outstanding." -- Patrick McNaughton "This book is a well-written and essential study of the place of belief in African material culture." -- International Journal of African Historical Studies Herbert relates the beliefs and practices associated with iron working in African cultures to other transformative activities -- chiefly investiture, hunting, and pottery making -- to propose a gender/age-based theory of power.