African Art and the Complexities of Identity

Transcript

1. African  Art  &  the  Complexi3es  of  Iden3ty  
   Reading  
   Ar+orms,  304-­‐309    
    
   Range  
   77,000  BCE-­‐Present  
    
   Terms/Concepts  
   Primi3vism,  Colonialism,  Post-­‐
   Colonialism,  oba,  oni,  iyoba,  
   Salt  Cellar,  Olyphant,  diaspora  
   Key  Monuments:  
     Crowned  Head  of  a  King  
   (Oni),  Ife,  Yoruba,  12th-­‐15th  
   Century  CE  
     Hip  Mask  Represen3ng  an  
   Iyoba  (“Queen  Mother”),  
   Benin,  Middle  Period,  c.  
   1550  CE  
     Ini3a3on  Wall  Panel,  Nkanu  
   People,  Democra3c  
   Republic  of  Congo,  early  
   20th  c.  
     El  Anatsui,  Flag  for  a  New  
   World  Power,  2004.  
   

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2. Timeline  
   Pre-­‐Contact      77,000  BCE-­‐1400  CE  
   •  Yoruba  (at  Ife)      350  BCE  –  Present  
   Contact        1400  CE—1950  CE  
   •  Kingdom  of  Benin    1440  CE  –  1897  CE  
   Colonialism        1880  CE  –  1950  CE  
   •  Nkanu  (Congo)      1602  CE—Present    
   De-­‐Coloniza3on      1950  CE—1980  CE  
   Post-­‐Colonial      1980  CE—Present    
   •  El  Anatsui      b.  1944  
   •  Julie  Mehretu      b.  1970  
   

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3. Ife  
   

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4. Ife  
   

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5. Forests  and  Rivers,  Osun  Grove,  Near  Ife,  Southern  
   Nigeria.  
   

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6. Its  residents  oden  referred  to  Ife  as  the  
   “Navel  of  the  World.”  
   19-­‐6,  Figure  of  the  Oni,  Ita  
   Yemoo,  Ife,  late  13th-­‐15th  
   century.  
   

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7. Pavement  Era  Begins  in  1000  CE  
   

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8. Symbol  of  the  Inner  Head  
   (ibori),  western  Yoruba,  c.  
   19th-­‐20th  century.  
   Cache  of  Bronze  Heads  found  under  the  floor  of  the  
   Wunmonije  Compound,  near  the  palace  of  the  Oni,  1938.  
   

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9. So-­‐called  “Ori  Olokun,”  likely  a  crowned  
   head  of  a  King  (Oni),  Ife,  Yoruba,  early  
   20th  century  copy  of  14th-­‐15th  Century  
   original.  
   

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10. Archaeologist  and  anthropologist  Leo  
    Frobenius,  c.1910.    
    So-­‐called  “Ori  Olokun,”  likely  a  crowned  head  
    of  a  King  (Oni),  Ife,  Yoruba,  early  20th  century  
    copy  of  14th-­‐15th  Century  original.  
     “It  [Ori  Olokun]  is  en3rely  devoid  of  Negro  
    characteris3cs  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  it  
    cannot  have  been  made  of  local  cas3ng…[I]  
    discovered  indisputable  proofs  of  the  existence  
    of  Plato’s  legendary  Con3nent  of  Atlan3s”  
    

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11. Crowned  Head  of  a  King  
    (Oni),  Ife,  Yoruba,  12th-­‐15th  
    Century  CE  
    “May  Obatala  fashion  for  
    us  a  good  work  of  art.”  
    

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12. Crowned  Head  of  a  King  
    (Oni),  Ife,  Yoruba,  12th-­‐15th  
    Century  CE  
    Yoruba  Aesthe3cs:  
    •  Ifarahon  (visibility)  
    •  Didon  (luminosity)  
    •  Gigun  (straight)    
    •  Odo  (“in  the  prime  of  life”)  
    •  Tut  (coolness)    
    •  Didogba  (symmetry)  
    •  Ogbogba  (balance)  
    •  Ohun  Eso  (ornamenta3on)  
    •  Jihora  (likeness)  
    

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13. Terracoma  Head,  Ife,  
    Yoruba,  12th-­‐15th  Century  
    CE  
    Embodiment  in  Portraiture  
    •  Ashe:  Life  Force  
    •  Iwa:  Crea3vity  
    •  Ara:  Evoca3ve  Power  
    

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14. Terracoma  Head,  Ife,  
    Yoruba,  12th-­‐15th  Century  
    CE  
    Scarifica3on  is  s3ll  prac3ced  in  western  Africa  
    today.  
    

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15. Bronze  Mask  Head,  Ife,  
    Yoruba,  12th-­‐15th  Century  CE  
    Masquerader  wearing  beaded  veil  at  a  
    ceremony  honoring  his  ancestors,  Ijebu,  
    Nigeria,  1986.  
    

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16. Slave  Trade  Map  
    

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18. Coloniza3on  Map  
    “He  became  a  Chris3an  and  at  
    school  was  my  fellow  scholar  in  
    learning  to  read  and  write.    
    When  he  led  he  could  write  very  
    well,  because  the  Sapes  have  a  
    talent  and  skill  at  everything  
    they  learn.”  (Andre  Donelha  on  
    Beca  Bore,  a  Sapi  royal,  in  
    1570s).    
    

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19. Sapi-­‐Portuguese  Style  HunDng  Horn,  Sierra  Leone,  c.  
    1550  CE  
    

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20. Sapi-­‐Portuguese  Style  HunDng  Horn,  Sierra  Leone,  c.  
    1550  CE  
    

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21. Sapi-­‐Portuguese  Style  HunDng  Horn,  Sierra  Leone,  c.  
    1550  CE  
    

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22. Sapi-­‐Portuguese  Style  HunDng  Horn,  Sierra  Leone,  c.  
    1550  CE  
    

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23. Sapi-­‐Portuguese  Style  HunDng  Horn,  Sierra  Leone,  c.  
    1550  CE  
    

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24. Sapi-­‐Portuguese  Style  HunDng  Horn,  Sierra  Leone,  c.  
    1550  CE  
    

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25. The  Danish  naturalist  Ole  Worm's  cabinet  of  curiosi3es,  This  
    is  the  fron3spiece  to  Worm's  1655  Museum  Wormianium.  
    

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27. Procession  of  the  Oba,  Benin  City,  from  DescripDon  of  Africa,  
    published  in  Amsterdam  in  1668.    
    

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28. Benin  City,  from  DescripDon  of  Africa,  published  in  
    Amsterdam  in  1668.    
    

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29. Hip  Mask  Represen3ng  an  Iyoba  
    (“Queen  Mother”),  Benin,  
    Middle  Period,  c.  1550  CE  
    Woman  with  facial  scarifica3on,  Benin,  2010  
    

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30. Hip  Mask  Represen3ng  
    an  Iyoba  (“Queen  
    Mother”),  Benin,  Middle  
    Period,  c.  1550  CE  
    

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31. Alterna3ng  Pamern  of  Olokun  and  Portuguese  Merchants,  Hip  
    Mask  Represen3ng  an  Iyoba  (“Queen  Mother”),  Benin,  
    Middle  Period,  c.  1550  CE  
    Olokun  
    Olokun  
    Merchant  
    

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32. Olokun,  Hip  Mask  Represen3ng  an  
    Iyoba  (“Queen  Mother”),  Benin,  
    Middle  Period,  c.  1550  CE  
    Bronze  Statue  of  Olokun,    Ebo-­‐
    Olokun,  Nigeria,  c.  12th-­‐15th  
    centuries.  
    

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33. Members  of  the  Bri3sh  Puni3ve  Raid,  Benin  Palace,  
    1897.  
    Members  of  the  Bri3sh  Puni3ve  Raid  with  spoils,  
    Benin  Palace,  1897.  
    

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34. Bri3sh  Raiding  Party  at  the  Palace  of  the  Oba,  Benin,  1897.  
    

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38. Ini3ates  Par3cipa3ng  in  Ritual  Dance,  Nkanu  People,  
    Democra3c  Republic  of  Congo,  c.  1990.  
    

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39. Ini3ates  wearing  ritual  masks,  Nkanu  People,  Democra3c  
    Republic  of  Congo,  early  20th  c.  
    

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40. Kikaku  with  Panels  and  Sculpture,  Nkanu  People,  Democra3c  
    Republic  of  Congo,  early  20th  c.  
    

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41. Ini3a3on  Wall  Panel,  Nkanu  People,  Democra3c  Republic  of  
    Congo,  early  20th  c.  
    

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44. Igbo  Girl  Painted  with  Uli  Pamerns,  Nigeria,  c.  1986.  
    

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45. El  Anatsui,  Charred  Wooden  Totems,  1990s  
    

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46. El  Anatsui,  The  Ancestors  Converged  Again,  1990s    
    

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47. Kente  (Man’s  Cloth),  Asante  Peoples,  Ghana,  c.  1960.  
    

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48. El  Anatsui,  Flag  
    for  a  New  
    World  Power,  
    2004.  
    

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49. El  Anatsui,  Between  Heaven  and  Earth,  2006.    
    

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50. El  Anatsui,  Detail:  Foil  Bomle  Tops,  IntermiLent  
    Signals,  2009.  
    

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51. El  Anatsui,  Detail:  Cut  Cans,  Between  Heaven  and  Earth,  2006.    
    

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52. El  Anatsui,  Detail:  Bomle  Caps,  Between  Heaven  and  Earth,  
    2006.    
    

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53. Julie  Mehretu,  Dispersion,  2002.  
    

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54. Julie  Mehretu,  Stadia  II,  2004  
    

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