History of art - Africa & Oceania
Africa
African art includes both sculpture, typified by the brass castings of the Benin people, as well as folk art. Concurrent with the European Middle Ages, in the eleventh century CE a nation that made grand architecture, gold sculpture, and intricate jewelry was founded in Great Zimbabwe. Impressive sculpture was concurrently being cast from brass by the Yoruba people of what is now Nigeria. Such a culture grew and was ultimately transformed to become the Benin Kingdom, where elegant altar tusks, brass heads, plaques of brass, and palatial architecture was created. The Benin Kingdom was ended by the British in 1897, and little of the culture's art now remains in Nigeria. Today, the most significant arts venue in Africa is the Johannesburg Biennale.
Sub-Saharan Africa is characterized by a high density of cultures. Notable are the Nok, Edo, Yoruba, and Igbo people from Nigeria; Kuba people from Central Africa; Djenné people from Mali; Ashanti peoplefrom Ghana; Zulu people from Southern Africa; and Fang people from Equatorial Guinea (85%), Cameroon & Gabon.
Helmet mask for Sande Society Brooklyn Museum
Sculpture from Guinea-Bissau
One of many Yoruba bronze headsfrom Ife
Terracotta seated figure from Mali, 13th century, earthenware, 29.9 cm (11⁄4 in) high, Metropolitan Museum of Art. The raised marks and indentations on the back of this hunched Djenné figure may represent disease or, more likely, sacrification patterns. The facial expression and pose could depict an individual in mouring or in pain
Two Bambara Chiwara c. late 19th early 20th centuries, Art Institute of Chicago. Female (left) and male Vertical styles
Wooden figure from Mambila(Nigeria), Musée du quai Branly(Paris)
The Golden Rhinoceros of Mapungubwe, Mapungubwe Collection, University of Pretoria Museums
Yombe-sculpture, 19th century
Sculpture of a "Queen Mother" from Kingdom of Benin, 16th century
Nok seated figure, 5th century BC – 5th century AD, terracotta, 38 cm (1 ft 3 in), Musée du quai Branly(Paris). In this Nok work, the head is dramatically larger than the body supoorting it, yet the figure possesses elegant details and a powerfull focus. The neat protrusion from the chin represents a beard. Necklaces from a cone around the neck and keep the focus on the face
Nok artwork, 5th century BC – 5th century AD, length: 50 cm (19.6 in); height: 54 cm (21.2 in); width: 50 cm (19.6 in), terracotta, Musée du quai Branly
A Benin Bronze plaque with warriors
Ndop are royal memorial portraits caverd by the Kuba people of Central Africa. They are not naturalistic portrayals but are intended as representations of the king's spirit and as an encapsulation of the principal of kingship. It represents king Mishe miShyaang maMbul
Wabele mask, 35 x 9 x 14 in. (88.9 x 22.9 x 35.6 cm), made by the Senufo people in the early 20th century, Brooklyn Museum
This trophy head, made of pure gold, represents an enemy chief killed in battle. Weighing 1.5 kg (3.3 lb), it was attached to the Asante king's state sword. Part of Wallace Collection (London). Circa 1870
16th century ivory portrait of Queen Mother Idia, Metropolitan Museum of Art. One of four related ivory pendant masks among the prized regalia of the Oba of Benintaken by the British during the Benin Expedition of 1897
Oceania
The Art of Oceania includes the geographic areas of Micronesia, Polynesia, Australia, New Zealand, and Melanesia. One approach treats the area thematically, with foci on ancestry, warfare, the body, gender, trade, religion, and tourism. Unfortunately, little ancient art survives from Oceania. Scholars believe that this is likely because artists used perishable materials, such as wood and feathers, which did not survive in the tropical climate, and there are no historical records to refer to most of this material. The understanding of Oceania's artistic cultures thus begins with the documentation of it by Westerners, such as Captain James Cook in the eighteenth century. At the turn of the twentieth century the French artist Paul Gauguin spent significant amounts of time in Tahiti, living with local people and making modern art—a fact that has become intertwined with Tahitian visual culture to the present day. The indigenous art of Australia often looks like abstract modern art, but it has deep roots in local culture.
The art of Oceania is the last great tradition of art to be appreciated by the world at large. Despite being one of the longest continuous traditions of art in the world, dating back at leasf fifty millennia, it remained relatively unknown until the second half of the 20th century.
The often ephemeral materials of Oceanic art makes it difficult to determine the antiquity of the majority of the forms of art practised today. The most durable forms are the multitudes of rock engravings and rock paintings which are found across the continent. In the Arnhem Land escarpment, evidence suggests that paintings were being made fifty thousand years ago, antedating the Palaeolithic rock paintings of Altamira & Lascaux in Europe.
Moai at Rano Raraku, Easter Island
Detail from a māorian tāhūhū from c. 1840
A hei-tiki made of pounamu (a harder kind of nefrite) and sea shells
Polynesian wooden sculpture
The Statue of A'a from Rurutu. This statue represents the god A'a and was made on the Island of Rurutuin the Pacific Ocean. It was one of a number of figures presented to a mission station by the Rurutuans in 1821 as a symbol of their acceptance of Christianity
An Uli figure from New Ireland, circa 1890, painted wood, 155 cm (61 in) high, in Musée du quai Branly. The hermaphrodite Uli figures probably symbolized the connection between paternal and maternal life energy in initiation ceremonies
This monumental carving of the head and torso of a man, from British Museum, is known as Hoa Hakananai'a (stolen or hidden friend). Easter Island is famous for monolithic basalt statues (moai) such as this one. They were probably carved to commemorate important ancestors
Dinonga eidu (idol), from Caroline islands, circa 1800, made of wood, 35 cm (13⁄4 in) high, in Musée du quai Branly (Paris). The initiated can distinghish between the masterfully stylized figures of male and female spirits and deities
Bradshaw rock paintings, north-west Kimberley region of Western Australia
Aboriginal rock art, Anbangbang Rock Shelter, Kakadu National Park (Australia)
Artwork form northern Australia, Musée du quai Branly (Paris)
A closeup of a rongorongo tablet
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