The Yoruba were very artistic individuals. The Yoruba are joint by religious beliefs, language and a common tradition passed along from through generation to generation. There were numerous types of art that they took part in whether it would be sculptures, masks, or even pottery. Throughout the culture of the Yoruba people many great works of art were created and created based upon spiritual principles, and because of that art and spirituality are often intertwined. Their creation of art puts into play a visible display of their devotion and to raise devotion of others to those spiritual beliefs in their society. The carvings, in particular the carved figurines of the Yoruba people, are accountable for one of the finest artistic traditions in the history Africa. …show more content…
. . His status of supremacy is absolute. Things happen when He approves, things do not come to pass if He disapproves. In worship, the Yoruba holds Him ultimately First and Last; in man's daily life, He has the ultimate pre-eminence.” The people of Yoruba would make these carving in respect and honor of these deities. The oracle figure was made in Nigeria by an Yoruba artist named Olowe of Ise. The people of Yoruba would use an “Adze,” which is a tool for carving wood which is what the carvings are made of. Spiritual nature are often associated with trees, rocks, rivers, forests, hills, etc. The Ibeji was made pretty commonly because it was a visual of twins which were very common in the Yoruba society. Art and beliefs intertwined so much that if a twin were to die the mother would have a Beaded Ibeji made as an memorial figure having the soul of the dead twin put inside of it as a twin dying is a huge sign of
In the late 1800s, the Yoruba’s formed a treaty with the Fulani and in 1901 they
The debate was how such a barbaric society could produce such sophisticated artwork. The quality of the Benin bronzes, based on...
Many African cultures see life as a cycle we are born, we grow and mature, enter adulthood, and one day we will eventually die but the cycle continues long after death. In Africa art is used as a way to express many things in their society, in this paper I will focus on different ways traditional African art are used to describe the cycle of one’s life. Since Africa is such a large continent it is important to keep in mind that every country and tribe has different rituals and views when it comes to the cycle of life. It is estimated to be well over a thousand different ethnic groups and cultures in Africa today. Thousands of cultures in Africa see the stages of life bound together in a continuous cycle; a cycle of birth, growth, maturity,
dedicated to Sango, the Yoruba deity of thunder and lighting. The female figure represents a worshiper of Shango.
Brief History From the 1500s to the 1700s, African blacks, mainly from the area of West Africa (today's Senegal, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Dahomey, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Gabon) were shipped as slaves to North America, Brazil, and the West Indies. For them, local and tribal differences, and even varying cultural backgrounds, soon melded into one common concern: the suffering they all endured. Music, songs, and dances as well as traditional food, helped not only to uplift them but also quite unintentionally added immeasurably to the culture around them. In the approximately 300 years that blacks have made their homes in North America, the West Indies, and Brazil, their highly honed art of the cuisine so treasured and carefully transmitted to their daughters has become part of the great culinary classics of these lands. But seldom are the African blacks given that recognition.
A common aspect of African culture is our mediating of deities, ancestors, and spirits, by performing rituals and contacting ancestors or historical ideals. This spiritual combination creates a non-Western idea of movement in art. I enjoy this part of our culture, where we create a less static environment. We become other beings, through our usage of art, dance, and costume with mask and headwear. Our artistic creators are forgotten. Our original artwork are eventually forgotten. The work goes back to the Earth, for the only true matter is how the spirits are manifested in the objects at the current time; eventually even this wears out. At the time of the spiritual manifestation in the objects, they are some of the most powerful aspects in our society.
Religion and the Igbo People The Igbo are a profoundly religious people who believe in a benevolent creator, usually known as Chukwu, who created the visible universe (uwa). Opposing this force for good is agbara, meaning spirit or supernatural being. In some situations people are referred to as agbara in describing an almost impossible feat performed by them. In a common phrase the igbo people will say Bekee wu agbara.
Over the course of history, art has been used for many different purposes. It has been used to relay a message to the illiterate and show off the face of an emperor. Presently, art has no other purpose except to be aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Back in the days of ancient Greece and Crete, that was not the case. The Minoans were a people who lived on an island near one of the oldest and most well-documented civilizations of the Western world. While they may have been advanced for their time, much of what we now know about their culture has come from examining their art. In the Minoan culture, different forms of artwork held different religious and political meaning.
...best case for the retention of the British Benin sculptures is to accord them the unique status they deserve as exceptional artworks and exhibit them appropriately in a prestigious national art gallery, for everyone to appreciate fully.
Angeles, Los. (2009). African arts. Volume 28. Published by African Studies Center, University of California.
Societies are widely portrayed across literature as groups of people living together in an organized community while sharing a similar culture. However, not all societies have developed properly to be classified as civilized. A civilized society is one that has been brought to a stage of social, cultural, and moral development, causing it to be considered more advanced. In the novel, Things Fall Apart, author Chinua Achebe depicts the Ibo society as civilized through their egwugwu justice system, worshipping of a spiritual Oracle, and patriarchal dominance.
What is culture? Culture refers to the cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving
Most art has some sort of reason or purpose behind it. It might be religious, symbolic, literal, traditional, customary, or just a preference by the artist. Most African art has a symbolic reason. Masks, pottery, figures, portraits, jewelry, baskets and clothing reflect the religious belief of the different tribes. Africans believed that everything in nature is alive. For example: rocks, grass, plants, trees, rivers and mountains. African art was not popular and was looked down upon until recently. In Nigeria, people were tattooed as a test of courage. The figure- “Portrait Head of a King (Oni)” reflects this. The King has this tattooing on his entire face. The King has big slanted eyes, a prominent nose, and big full lips. All these things represented something to the Nigerian people; the King...
"Article. "Traditional Yoruba Theatre"" Yoruban Ritual/Theater. Movable Type Enterprise, 17 Nov. 2012. Web. 8 Mar. 2014. .
Ghana is a country located on the west coast of Africa; Africa is a resource rich continent that supplies much of the world with diamonds, oils, petroleum and more through trade. The country of Ghana has undergone revision in their labor forces in the past twenty years, Ghana has moved more from the traditional labor sector like agriculture to more modern sectors. One of the more modern sectors of Ghana today is the industrial sector which is relatively small and is mainly operated by the Ghanaian government. The industrial sector was expanded by the government and president to employ the unemployed and promote investment in the private sector. After the 1990’s Ghana has seen consistent economic growth but their economic growth from the last eight years has increased tremendously. In the most recent of years ( after 2004) the growth rate of Ghana started to accelerate and it increased to over six percent between a five year span from 2005-2010, with the average being above seven percent in 2000 and 2009. The increase in sectors has taken Ghana from a poverty rate of more than half 51.7% to 28.5% by the year 2005. Before Ghana’s independence on March 6, 1957 most of the country’s gdp was contributed to agriculture and the industry sector was less of a contributor. Recently, between the years of 2001-2010 the roles of whom or what contributes to the gdp has switched. Most of the contribution to the gdp is that of the service sector. Even though, the service sector has risen to the top of the economy, agriculture is slowly but surely is rising back to the top of Ghana’s highest gdp contributor by the way of nontraditional exports like automobiles and cocoa. The service sector of Ghana provides many residents w...