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