Africa Art Exam flashcards 162
Rosalyn walker-olowe of use
- artist is forgotten - contemporary Yoruba people praise him(olowe) -individual artistic skill -taught his students who became prominent artists -Rosalyn collected photographs of his works through archives and families in initsu -she's trying to reconstruct original work Philip Allison - olowe found lost dog and returned it back to him then they worked together
Olowe of Ise at a glance
Active 18th-19th century Made doors and posts Innovative style
Place door-British empire exhibition olowe
Admiration for olowe of ise At British museum Front page of British newspaper African art is being advertised on high platform British museum officials bought the door from the palace Suttle critique of colonialism
Rule by association
BRITISH strategy- elect and appoint local leadership who were seen as intermediaries between local individuals and the british colony- gave power to individuals to people who were not normally in local power structure (used as puppets)
Olowe of ise bowl with figures
Elaborate Unexpected Like his board
Olowe of ise place sculpture and veranda post
Individual artistic style- Carved deeper than other artist Spaces between the figures Enlingated neck and torso Cross dress or mid proportion
Fetiches
applied in a broad way to anything that was created in central Africa that had to do with religion
Bilongo
central abdominal cavity was once packed with medicinal recipes made by the Nganga covered by a mirror
Negritude
coined by individuals in Paris by west africans who were studying at European universities. Decolonization rhetoric, trying to decolonize colonialism.
Assimilation
early FRENCH strategy- Assimilate- turn locals into being french (didn't work) lots of issues, second half- they embraced rule by association
Qua-Ejagham Mgbe Levels (secret society levels of membership, takes a lifetime) 1.Abon Ogbe: Small boy that can hangout, nothing more 2. Dibo Nkanda: Now a full member, can learn secrets 3. Asain Dibo: Submitted your portfolio for chieftaincy, but not accepted yet 4. Nyema Mgbe: Now a chief or leader of this institution, elder, contributes to community, can be given any one of 32 different titles, wife can be initiated now too Other branches: Boriki, Ikpa, Dibo
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Ase
intangible power held by kings and post menopausal women
Berlin conference
official colonization of the african continent (1884-5) The imperial powers met- there was a representative- looked at a big map of africa and claimed different countries in (scramble for Africa)
Nganga
ritual specialist in the Congo sense of king or priest
dress
things that aren't worn by the person but part of their entourage
Iconography
using culturally relevant signals to communicate
Mali- Bamana Culture
when talking about things that are integrated in everyday life there are issues of visibility. In some cases when things come out in the community it wants visibility Masquerade- wants public visibility. secrecy - what you are initiated into vs what your not initiated into
Map of West Africa with Mansa Musa, (by a Spanish mapmaker), 14th century
•Highly respected king •Mansa Musa is the wealthiest human being who has ever lived •Mansa Musa is worth $400,000,000,000 •Islamic traders were known to be fair. •Because of this, Mansa Musa made Islam the official religion of kingdom •60000 person pilgrimage to Mecca, spent all the gold he brought. He had a hand in motivating europeans to explore/sail for gold
"The Fetish and the Imagination of Europe" (reading)
•King Alfonso received the portuguese that were arriving •Decided to sell individuals to slavery, originally were criminals/prisoners of war After 15 years of his kingship, 5000 individuals were sent a year •Fluent in portuguese, converted his kingdom to christianity
Great Zimbabwe
•Kingdom complex (1200-1450) •Connected to indian to asia •Indian ocean trade •Shona live in this area today •Networks of trade are global for which the time they are unfolding
Yoruba- (eastern Guinea coast--Nigeria and Republic of Benin)
•Origin myth: Olorun (creator god)- of Yoruba •Plenty of Yoruba that don't fall into this Sent his son, Oduduwa, who first became the first Oni of Ile ife ("the navel of the world")(start and end of their world) Divine kingship, religion, and mythology all come together in terms of Western Myth tightly woven •Individual city states with their own kingdom and divine individual
Kingdom of Mali, Timbuktu (ca. 1200 - 1600 CE)
•Trans-Saharan trade network •African medieval kingdoms coincide with the network of trade •Kingdoms controlled all of the gold, helped keep the trade route safe •100,000 population in Timbuktu, known for wealth