Syllabus/Image List – Chapter 32
Art of Modern Africa
1. Stock raid with cattle, horses, encampment, and magical “rain animal,”
rock painting, San, Bamboo Mountain, South Africa, mid-19th century.
Pigments on rock, approx. 8’ long
San people (of South Africa)
2. Reliquaries, Fang peoples, Southern Cameroon, Photo by Hans Gehne,
ca. 1913, Published in Zimmerman, Karl, 1914
3. Reliquary guardian figure (mbulu-ngulu), “Kota,” Gabon, 19th or early
20th century. Wood, copper, iron, and brass, 1’ 9 1/16” high
Kota (tribe of people in Central Africa)
4. Woman sculptor finishing an ancestral portrait, 1965, Akan, Ghana.
Terracotta
Akan (ethnic group in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire) terracotta commemorative head
5. Female figure with child, Kongo peoples, Mayombe region, Democratic
Republic of the Congo, Mid 19th-early 20th century, Wood (Nauclea
latifolia), glass, glass beads, brass tacks, pigment, H x W x D: 25.7 x 10.5 x
10.2 cm
Nail figure (nkisi n’kondi), Kongo, from Shiloango River area,
Democratic Republic of Congo, ca. 1875–1900. Wood, nails, blades,
medicinal materials, and cowrie shell, 3’ 10 3/4” high
Kongo Power Images – Kongo was a kingdom throughout West Central Africa
from the 1400 until early 1900s
Genetrix – legendary founding clan mother
6. Kuba Nyim (king) Kot a Mbwecky III in state dress with royal drum.
Mushenge, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo). Photograph by
Eliot Elisofon, 1971
7. Mwashamboy (kneeling) and Bwoom (standing) maskers in a royal
ceremony among the Kuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, late 20th
century
8. “Beautiful Lady” dance mask, Senufo, Côte d’Ivoire, late 20th century.
Wood, ca. 1’ 1/2” high
Senufo (group of indigenous people of Ivory Coast
9. Ngady Amwaash mask, Kuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, late 19th
or early 20th century
Kuba people hold three legendary royal ancestors in high honor: Mwashamboy,
Bwoom, and Ngady Amwaash
10. Seated couple, Dogon, Mali, ca. 1800–1850. Wood, 2’ 4” high
Extremely stylized Dogon (people of Mali) carvings
11. The thunder god Amadioha and his wife, painted clay sculptures in an
mbari, Igbo, Umugote Orishaeze, Nigeria, photographed in 1966
Image of the thunder god Amadioha and his wife in a mbari house
Mbari houses (tradition of the Igbo people)
12. Mami Wata shrine with priestess, Igbo, near Owerri town, Nigeria,
photographed by Henry J. Drewal in 1978
13. KANE KWEI, coffin in the shape of a hen with chicks, Ga, Ghana, 1989.
Wood and pigment, 7’ 6 1/2’ long
Carved wooden caskets created by Kane Kwei and his sons of the Ga people in
Ghana
14. TRIGO PIULA, Ta Tele Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo, 1988. Oil
on canvas, 3’ 3 3/8” X 3’ 4 3/8”
15. WILLIE BESTER, Homage to Steve Biko, South Africa, 1992. Oil,
enamel, and mixed media, 4’ 1 5/6” X e’ 1 5/6”
Important Concepts and Issues
1. Be able to identify characteristic traits of Modern African Art
2. Note the similarities and differences between modern art in African and older
traditional art of the country
3. Understand the importance of religion and culture on the art of Africa