MetaFilter posts tagged with africa and art

Central and Southern African tribal art and culture

nickyskye — Sun, 17 May 2009 13:13:23 -0800

The exceptionally informative and well illustrated Galerie Ezakwantu has great pages on African tribal art, culture and history [due to partial nudity many links NSFW]: African Lip Plugs - Lip Plates; African Currency - African Slave Beads; Jewelry; African Scarification; Thrones and Stools; Shields; Combs; Musical Instruments; Fertility Dolls; Weapons; Zulu Basketry; Contemporary Art; Cups; Tribal Currency; Zulu Ricksha attire; Southern Africa Tribal Migrations; South African Kings and Chiefs. Also some interesting pages on anger about Robert Mugabe; the sale of the gallery owner's property; Cape Dutch Homesteads and blueberry recipes. A little more about the Body Art of Africa: Scarification among African cultures.

Today's yards just aren't as exciting.

filthy light thief — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:10:22 -0800

The Merkel brothers are the grandsons of steam car makers and sons of an African art collector, and each have carried forward the love of collecting and an interest in cars from the previous generations. Henry Merkel is a recognized White expert, who continues to share knowledge of his family's productions and his knowledge of White steam cars has been published. Ben Merkel focused on collecting Checkered Cabs, and has has a love for peaceful rural junkyards. The youngest grandson of Walter White is Tom Merkel, and his love for collecting old cars outstrips his brothers by miles (print view). Somewhere in the Cuyama Valley, just outside of Los Padres National Forest land is his "car garden," which is also where the snowman that once adorned Santa Claus Lane now resides. His other love is 91+ year old cabin, which he indicates is "Santa Barbara's oldest cabin!" and a "Folk Art Magic Museum!" on the signs around the property, but which the Forest Service wants to tear down. Family history: Thomas Howard White founded White Sewing Machine Company, and later the White Motor Company, which began producing steam cars after finding the Locomobile unreliable. Thomas' youngest son was Walter White, who became vice president of the White Company when it split from its parent the White Sewing Machine Company in 1906, and then president of the White Motor Company in 1921. Walter's daugter, Katherine White, was renowned for her African art collection, which was donated to the Seattle Art Museum.

Not Just for Skull T-shirts Anymore

pinothefrog — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 10:46:49 -0800

Inspired by the 88-artist exhibition Africa Remix, Juxtapoz magazine's most recent issue is almost entirely dedicated to contemporary African artists. Highlights include Pieter Hugo's Nollywood photo series, Diane Victor's Smoke Portraits, Abu Bakarr Mansarray's crazy machine sketches, Ransome Stanley's oil paintings, Mikhael Subotzky's prison photography, Wangechi Mutu's collages, Cheri Cherin's large-scale political canvases, and Jane Alexander's human/animal sculptures. Between the amazing graffiti you see in Senegal and hand-painted Ghanaian movie posters, I'm surprised Juxtapoz hasn't focused on Africa sooner. Although I guess their broadened scope isn't really news.

African art

nickyskye — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 14:18:15 -0800

Much of the extraordinary variety of traditional art from Africa comes from the countries in West and Central Africa, because of the availability of wood (often called exotic woods) and metal. Hamill Gallery has organized their excellent site to show the materials, including textiles, metals, beads used, as well as the names of the many tribes and categories, such as animals. The images are accompanied by information about the art. The Yale University Art Gallery also has a nice selection of African art with information. The Africa Image Library offers an archive of images, which give a little backdrop to the lives and environment of the artists and artisans in various parts of Africa. African Wood Figures / Fetishes / Dolls and Puppets Google book: African Sculpture By the late Ladislas Segy, who was a pioneer among Westerners writing about the meanings and ritual uses of West African art and gallery owner Traditional African art created before 1955 is considered "old", and usually quite costly, because many of the materials used, such as wood or barkcloth, were subject to decay by weather and bugs. [This was told to me by Merton Simpson.] African Art history resources on the web

natural beauty

nickyskye — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 22:27:37 -0800

The People of the Omo Valley, Ethiopia, use their faces and bodies as canvases, using natural elements at hand in an especially beautiful, natural fashion show. These photographs [flash] were taken by Hans Silvester, a German photographer who spent 10 months in the Omo Valley. Natural Fashion: Tribal Decoration from Africa An unprecedented series of images showing the Omo people's imaginative body decoration and embellishments. Also by Hans Silvester, Cats in Love and Cats in the Sun About the Omo people. People of region along the Omo river.

Women are Heroes.

chunking express — Fri, 30 May 2008 17:58:53 -0800

Women are Heroes. Project by JR. You may have seen his Face 2 Face project. Be sure to watch the Trailer. (Also on site, under the project link.)

Tassili Rock Art

anansi — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 12:30:45 -0800

The rock art of the Tassili culture is found throughout North African mountains, the Tassili n'Ajjer. The rock art of Europe is well known around the world. Lesser known but just as amazing and less well-understood is the rock art of North Africa. (prev.,prev.) This tradition is thought to have developed independently of European rock art although researchers agree about very little else about it. This art hearkens back to a time when the Sahara's climate was milder and more wet. This rock art has often been compared to the pre-Nguni San rock art of Southern Africa. There are of course people who believe that aliens did it. The more research that is done about this area and its archaeology, the more we may have to rethink our ideas about the Sahara. . Sadly enough, like many archaeological sites it is becoming endangered.

formal and contemporary

nickyskye — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 00:39:27 -0800

The Young Gallery has an exceptional collection of photographs by both renowned and recently discovered photographers. The feast of visuals includes elegantly haunting images of African wildlife by Nick Brandt, Night Views of cities by Floriane de Lassée, salad vegetables by Viktor Polson, nudes and portraits by Patrick Demarchelier and images of Tibet, Mongolians and Tibetans by Richard Gere.

Wild Photos

Gyan — Fri, 16 Sep 2005 11:48:21 -0800

Alex Bernasconi's (Mostly Wildlife) Photography [via MeCha]

Fazel Sheikh's Refugees

matteo — Fri, 24 Jun 2005 12:43:40 -0800

Fazal Sheikh's photographs have documented the plight of refugees in camps across Central and East Africa and the Middle East. However, his photographs are distinctly different from the images of refugees we commonly see in printed news articles. Sheikh's photographs implicitly assert that the individual refugees share humanity with their oppressive rulers. He does so by depicting the individuals in portraits rather than as victims of a social and political drama. Sheikh, an American citizen, was just awarded the Grand Prix International Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Townships

plep — Mon, 13 Oct 2003 14:08:10 -0800

South African township art , urban art, and recycled craft, some of it inspired by the anti-apartheid struggle or day-to-day survival in the post-apartheid era (and a common 'language' in multi-lingual townships).

Tom Feelings

moonbird — Fri, 29 Aug 2003 15:06:28 -0800

Tom Feelings, an African-American illustrator, author, and historian, has passed. "I had used the functional form of a narrative without words, it is open to all people, especially those who have difficulty visualizing what Black people describe as racism from the past and its lingering presence in the present."

Africaserver

plep — Mon, 16 Jun 2003 08:20:18 -0800

Africaserver. Contemporary African art and culture - San art from Botswana, Arms into Art from Mozambique, Dar es Salaam in Delft Blue - a cross-cultural comparison of favourite objects, Marthe Nso Abomo from Cameroon, a Rwanda Genocide Monument, and more.
Related :- Meshu, an artist and political activist from Lesotho who may have been southern Africa's first streaker.

African Art

plep — Thu, 27 Mar 2003 06:30:07 -0800

The G.I. Jones Photographic Archive of Southeastern Nigerian Art and Culture. 'This is an archive of digitized photographs depicting the arts and cultures of southeastern Nigeria. The collection includes examples from Ibibio, Igbo, Ijo and Ogoni speaking peoples. All of the photographs were taken in the 1930s by the late G.I. Jones, Department of Social Anthropology, University of Cambridge. The majority of the images are from the Igbo speaking regions where Jones conducted most of his research. The materials included here represent only a sample of the complete Jones collection. The photographs are unique for the creative brilliance of the art represented, the quality of the photography itself, and the cultural and historical significance of photographic records from this time period in Nigeria.'
Some related links :-
American Museum Congo Expedition 1909-1915. A truly interesting site, which includes field notes, photographs, watercolours, historical maps, anthropoligical objects, and so forth.
A Clickable Map of the Art of the African Continent, via Africa: The Art of a Continent.
The Woods Collection of African Art, with another clickable map.
Nigerian Stories.

Art & Life in Africa.

plep — Fri, 07 Mar 2003 09:21:22 -0800

Art & Life in Africa. A resource on African art and culture. Key Moments in Life is an interesting page which deals with different phases of life. The Peoples Index gives overviews of the different cultures. The snapshots of daily life in Mali and Burkina Faso are also worth a look.

Gifts & Blessings.

plep — Fri, 07 Feb 2003 05:15:54 -0800

Gifts & Blessings. The textile arts of Madagascar.

MrBaliHai — Sat, 29 Dec 2001 13:02:11 -0800

African fantasy coffins are produced by the Ga and other tribes of the Ghana coast to confer the status of travel and luxury goods upon the deceased. The coffins themselves are incredibly detailed works of art that range from miniature Mercedes automobiles and cellphones to giant fish and Coke cans. What would you like to be buried in?