Differences Between Art in Africa and the United States

Americans are not good at thinking functionally. Many tribes in Africa are good at using art and ritual to express their religious and cultural beliefs. They think of things functionally instead of materially. Americans have trouble expressing their religions. They see things as something that has to be physical to mean anything. The expression of the relationship between humanity and the divine and the expression of culture in America is greatly diminished when compared to that of African tribes.

Many African tribes still have deep connections to their main deities. Tribes in Africa worship many different deities according to their tribal beliefs. There are tribes that have similar beliefs like the Igbo and the Swahili who believe that their gods sent an animal to tell humans that they could live forever, but another animal reached humans first causing humans to die. Because there are so many different tribes, there are many different ways of respecting the divine in Africa. Sacrifices are a popular way of worship. A tribe will sacrifice an animal as an offering to their gods. These sacrifices show that there is a deep connection to the gods in most tribes. The willingness to kill and animal that could be providing them with food shows that they have great faith in their gods. This faith is an example of their deep connection. They trust their gods and respect them so that they don't bring illness or bad weather. This contrasts with the Western culture’s connection to deities.

Western culture has lost the close connection to deities. People in American culture have such varied beliefs over such a large area that it makes it hard to have one communal way of worship for a specific religion. There are many different belief systems ...

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...ate it so that it shows who they are, they create it so it shows who they want to be known as. This causes their art to lose meaning. When it’s created with the intent of impressing a group of people instead of expressing the artist’s culture, it loses functional meaning and becomes something pretty for people to look at in a museum.

American culture has experienced a disconnect when it comes to artistic and ritualistic expressions of culture. There has been a loss of meaning in the art being created by Western artists. Religious beliefs have been manipulated to fit people’s wants. There are almost no forms of rituals in America. African tribes are much more connected to their religion and expressions of their culture. If Americans could gain the ability to think of things more functionally that materially, they would become a much more creative and diverse culture.