African Art & Culture (World Art and Culture)

An introduction to the art and culture of Africa

The World Art & Culture series looks at cultures around the world, looking at actual artifacts to explain how and what we can learn about a culture by examining its art. In "African Art & Culture," Jane Bingham looks at a wide variety of art forms: rock art, architecture, pottery, body art and adornment, textiles, masks, wood carving metalwork, baskets, gourds, and eggshells, and musical instruments. For example, the cover of this volume had a wooden portrait of the head of an Ife king imposed over a 50-yar-old Kente cloth robe. Although the volume focuses on sub-Sahara African art and culture, Bingham does touch on cross-currents in terms of both Arab and European influences. The volume is illustrated with color photographs of various art objects (e.g., a church carved out of solid rock and the traditional jewelry of the Fulani) and young readers will learn why the mud mosques of northern and western Africa are rebuilt each year, what the different colors in bead necklaces symbolize, and what are fantasy coffins. Bingham shows how these various arts and crafts provide insights into African cultures, reflecting not only their history and beliefs and but also their technology and daily lives. She reinforces the idea that every piece of African art tells us something about the environment and the culture in which it was developed, which can obviously be extended to other cultures around the world. Throughout the book some words appear in bold and are defined in the Glossary in the back of the book that goes from "abstract" to the "Vandals." A chart explains the various African Ethnic Groups discussed in the book and identifying the area of Africa in which they live today (e.g., the Ife of western Africa and the Mbuti of the Congo River). Other volumes in the World Art & Culture series include "Indian Art & Culture," "Japanese Art & Culture," and "Mexican Art & Culture." Read more