The viewing of masks is often restricted to certain peoples or places,
even when used in performance, or masquerade. African masks manifest
spirits of ancestors or nature as well as characters that are spiritual
and social forces. During a masquerade, which is performed during
ceremonial occasions such as agricultural, initiation, leadership and
funerary rites, the mask becomes the otherworld being. When collected
by Western cultures, masks are often displayed without their costume
ensemble and lack the words, music and movement, or dance, that are
integral to the context of African masquerades.
Visually, masks are often a combination of human and animal traits.
They can be made of wood, natural or man-made fibers, cloth and animal
skin. Masks are usually worn with costumes and can, to some extent, be
categorized by form, which includes face masks, crest masks, cap masks,
helmet masks, shoulder masks, and fiber and body masks. Maskettes,
which are shaped like masks, are smaller and are not worn on or over
the face. They may be worn on an individual’s arm or hip or hung on a
fence or other structure near the performance area.
The cultures of Africa have created a world-renowned tradition of
three-dimensional and relief sculpture. Everyday and ceremonial works
of great delicacy and surface detail are fashioned by artists using
carving, modeling, smithing and casting techniques. Masks, figures,
musical instruments, containers, furniture, tools and equipment are all
part of the sculptor’s repertoire.
The human figure is perhaps the most prominent sculptural form in
Africa, as it has been for millennia. Male and female images in wood,
ivory, bone, stone, earth, fired clay, iron and copper alloy embody
cultural values, depict the ideal and represent spirits, ancestors and
deities. Used in a broad range of contexts--initiation, healing,
divination, leadership, prestige and religious worship, to name but a
few--African sculptures clearly demonstrate the central role of the
arts in the African experience.
Furniture and furnishing
in Africa ranges from everyday household objects, such as headrests
and stools, to objects of high social status, such as the elaborately
carved chair of an important village elder or the ornamental throne
of a king. In many cases, artists from particular areas produce furnishings
that have a uniformity of design suited to their function. While adhering
to formal and stylistic conventions, artistic creativity and personal
expression are highly prized. With a unique and inventive organic
style, African furniture demonstrates individual artistry and the
inventiveness of African cultures.
Tools and equipment
tools are often more than hand-held implements for toiling. Created
with an obvious attention to detail, their elaborate forms and decorations
add beauty and pleasure to daily tasks. Often fashioned in part as
figurative sculpture, the spoons, axes, adzes, pipes, combs and heddle
pulleys used in daily life are examples of the skill and creativity
of African artists. Lavishly decorated tools usually serve a ceremonial,
rather than functional, role.
Two-dimensional painting in traditional African art includes images of
animals and human figures found on the rock art of the Sahara and in
southern Africa. Geometric paintings on house exteriors can be found
from west to southern Africa. However, in a museum context, traditional
paintings tend to be limited to works on panels or other portable
surfaces from only a few places in of Africa.
Ethiopian Orthodox style icons are found in this category. These
distemper on wood panels are the work of artist priests and date from
the 15th century to the present day. Devotional gifts to a church, they
often show images of “Mary and her Beloved Son” flanked by saints. They
are remarkable emblems of faith that also document Ethiopia’s
interaction with Christian art in Europe and the Near East.
Toys and entertainment
and games teach valuable lessons and help serve the social functions
inherent in play. Gameboards hone manual dexterity and the skills
of quick perception and strategy. Puppets reinforce community values
while entertaining. Dolls, many made of ephemeral materials, let girls
act out the role and skills of motherhood.
Weapons and armament
weaponry, which comprises diverse materials, techniques and forms,
may be used for hunting, defense or as ceremonial objects that denote
high social status. Basketry and hide shields, metal-tipped spears,
decorative swords with leather sheaths and distinctively shaped throwing
knives attest to the artistry of the African basket makers and metalsmiths
who make weapons as well as other utilitarian objects to serve community
needs. Often, the hilt or handle of the weapon is particularly well
decorated and may be fashioned of carved wood, bone or ivory, covered
in gold leaf or wrapped in brass or copper sheeting to further enhance
its visual appeal and the status of the owner.
is an important part of African culture. Instruments accompany the
events of daily life and are prominent in public ceremonies and royal
courts. The museum's collection focuses on those special musical instruments
that, in attention to form and detail, are also works of art. The
silent visual appeal of a massive slit gong, a delicately carved bell
or whistle, or a beautifully crafted drum or harp augments the sound
it creates when it is played.
Africa's past, a wide variety of objects--salt, shells, beads, metal
ingots, local and European coins, jewelry, woven cloth, weapons and
tools--have served as money and measured wealth. Utilitarian objects
made of iron, copper and brass alloys, gold and silver had intrinsic
worth based on the durability and value of the metals, but such objects
could also be melted down and refashioned to serve other purposes.
Although some types of woven cloth, glass beads, cowrie shells and
jewelry were used as money, it was usually as a secondary function.
A necklace, for example, used for personal adornment may have been
considered a form of stored wealth, available for exchange if needed.
In many parts of Africa, even with the imposition of national coins
and paper money, traditional currencies continue to have a ceremonial
Costumes and textiles
Textiles are among Africa's most vibrant arts. Whether made locally
or imported, Africans use textiles of various colors, shapes and
designs for daily or ceremonial clothing, as shrouds for the dead or as
furnishing fabrics for the interior of their residences. Such garments
indicate a person's status and fashion flair, but may also be worn as
protection from negative forces.
Both men and women weave in Africa. Though there are exceptions to
the rule, narrow-strip textiles are traditionally woven by men.
Broadloom textiles, by contrast, are usually woven by women. Materials
include natural fibers such as raffia and bark, locally grown and spun
cotton thread, locally produced and imported silk or cotton thread and
a range of synthetic fibers. Dyes include natural vegetal pigments and
aniline or chemical dyes.
The appeal of African textiles has spread worldwide. Ghana's
strip-woven kente and stamped adinkra cloth, Mali's mud-dyed
bogolanfini, factory-printed textiles from West and East Africa and
other African fabrics are now popular fashion accessories both within
and outside Africa.
Africa, as throughout the world, what individuals wear may communicate
their age, the identities of the groups to which they belong and their
status within their communities. Costume accessories include jewelry,
hats, shoes, amulets and fans. The artistry of these objects is manifest
in the embellishments and materials used, such as raffia, cotton,
silk, glass beads, copper alloy, gold, silver and ivory.
men and women create beautiful containers, such as gourds, baskets,
pots, wooden cups and bowls, to store and transport food and water
and to hold their most valuable and useful items. Crafted in a variety
of materials, many of these objects display decorative flourishes
and attention to detail that mark them as prized personal possessions.
Containers, such as ceramic pots or gourd bowls, may also be used
in special ceremonies or become part of an assemblage of objects used
in a shrine.
Books and manuscripts
long history of written languages and literacy dates to medieval times
when great centers of learning were established. Beautifully illustrated,
hand-written books and manuscripts demonstrate the interplay between
the visual arts and language. Ethiopian Orthodox and Islamic religious
texts and Ethiopian healing scrolls attest to the power of the written
word to act as both narrative and design. The beauty and power of
these scripts are often augmented by decorative patterns or symbolic
designs created by talented illustrators and artists.