A Look at African Arts by Country
One of the most interesting aspects of African art is how powerfully it varies among regions. For example, African tribes from Cote d’Ivoire often focus on making art through wood-carving and rarely focus on other techniques such as painting or music. This is because a great part of these tribes’ tradition revolves around the idea of masks as sacred representations and manifestations of deity. Because these people believe that the wooden masks they create are crucial for their religious practices, it’s pretty obvious as to why they would focus on wood for all of their art.
Another interesting type of African art is that of the Dogon tribe. Again, the Dogon tribe’s art originates more in their religious tradition, and as a result, it is heavily influenced by religious thought. Dogon art is primarily seen through sculpture. These sculptures are bold and use lots of powerful and readily apparent shapes and angles in their work. Until recently, it was considered taboo for the layperson to even view many of these religious sculptures. While a great resurgence in anthropological interest has led to rediscoveries of many religious sculptures, in many cases the exact process by which the sculpture was made and any additional consecrations bestowed upon it once it was completed are entirely unknown. While anthropologists are still studying these forms of art, it may very well remain a mystery.
The most immediately apparent and commonly thought of form of art is of African practical art, such as woven baskets or small jewelry items, but these really show up primarily in Kenya. Kenyan art focuses on more practical (and less religious in nature) forms of art, including highly stylized clothing in addition to jewelry and tools such as baskets. This art is most associated with African culture and is definitely the most easily recognizable of any form of African art. This might be because while many other cultures have art forms such as sculpture or woodworking, Kenyan usage of tools as art stands out in comparison.
Looking at African art by region leads to some interesting conclusions because one can see significant differences in the art style of the region. This helps to underlie the important geological differences that exist between African countries – consider, for instance, the jungles of Southern Africa when compared to Egypt’s location in the Sahara desert. Hopefully, this short primer on African art and its importance by location will help you to consider how strongly the geographical differences of a region may influence its culture.
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