Fashion Art History Unit 1 African Art
What is African Art?
African art, the visual arts of native Africa, particularly sub-Saharan Africa, including such media as sculpture, painting, pottery, rock art, textiles, masks, personal decoration, and jewelry.
Instructions:
Step 1 View the video documentary.
Step 2 lift a statement from the documentary that enlightened you about African Artwork.
Step 3 In one paragraph write the statement and explain you interpretation.
Comments
Prior to African Art artist captured the literal look of the individuals in their artworks. They did not give themselves the artistic freedom to recreate the human figure. African artists introduced this to the European and Western cultures. That to me is very admirable as a Fashion Design teacher I always encourage students to develop their own looks on their fashion figures in order to have a unique look that best represents their brand. I was happy to learn that African Art were the originators of creating an illusionary figure of the human body.
- Ms. David
What’s inspiring about these artistic sculptures is that there different and unique in there own way which can inspire designers like us to make things that are different and unique in there own way, but to also try and step out of our comfort zone with our designs.
I feel like people don't really understand and appreciate the culture of the art and just sees it for the aesthetic. There is so much more to African art than what meets the eye and because we take credit for some of it and westernize it no one sees it true beauty and the purpose. People use African culture and true to change it or make it their own without know where it came from or what it was truly meant for.
I totally agree with this because your body is your body and this proves a valid point. Some people are quick to judge on what others do with it and they think they have a right to juudge and discriminate against that.
-Juannn Bazan
I feel like people don’t realize or understand the meaning behind African art. People don’t realize the thought put into designs. As one of the men stated in the video “African art is mostly expressing freedom.” People in Africa are still trying to fight for freedom and some already have it and use art to express how it feels. For example they could put breast, where they don’t usually belong and they can make it oversized giving a new power to the whole design. You never need to be correct and as ms. David said “you put a piece of the body where ever you want, as long as you keep it real.” This inspires me because I realize I could do what ever I want as long as I know what the meaning is and as long as i keep it real. -syanna
i think its crazy that their freedom to be artistic in what they design is limited. how they feel like authenticity and culture will be wiped if they are allowed to be creative , and it makes me wonder what modern African art would be like if creativity was allowed.
I feel likeee yes all Africans art does have a meaning and stories behind it. People look at there art just to say “ oh it’s just a sculpture when you can look at how it’s built and the details. They are very talented and creative. No one would understand there culture if they didn’t be creative and made things like that .
I agree with Ms. David because she stated “ . They did not give themselves the artistic freedom to recreate the human figure” Meaning if people would not bother them and not treated them like slaves they could of done more then they are doing
I believe this happens more often than not when art work from different cultures and traditions are displayed in museums and no context of its origin it given. Although art can be interpreted in so many different ways it is important to pay homage to its tradition and true meaning. In addition, for people who are coming from the countries where this art had been created it is more than just an item hanging in an museum and it is important to them for people who do know where it came from, its meaning and to know the context for a true understanding of the piece.
you can do art with everything. use different pieces to make it look like a real object but in a creative way. For example you can use different materials to create an animal, nature, people, furniture, and so many more
- Maria Navarrete
My interpretation of this quote is that when people, specifically westerners, go to other countries to examine/ learn about the natives culture, they tend to bring along the false information taught to them. By doing that they learn that there perspectives of the natives tradition, ideologies, and cultures are wrong, because they were in the Western prespective. In western life, we have a purpose for everything, but in other culturess that isn't the case, so in order to appericate and admire other cultures' beauty and traditions we must accpet knowledge with a open mind and understanding. Also, understand that there are different standards are place in other country, besides our own.
My interpretation of this quote is that when people, specifically westerners, go to other countries to examine/ learn about the natives culture, they tend to bring along the false information taught to them. By doing that they learn that there perspectives of the natives tradition, ideologies, and cultures are wrong, because they were in the Western perspective. In western life, we have a purpose for everything, but in other cultures that isn't the case, so in order to appreciate and admire other cultures' beauty and traditions we must accept knowledge with a open mind and understanding. Also, understand that there are different standards are place in other country, besides our own.
- Sokari Douglas Camp( spulptor)
My interpretation of this quote said from a sculptor is that when you create something it is so special to you that others may see it differently. It's like you create something for a purpose and others may just look at it not knowing what went through your head. That is why its important to know the context behind the artwork because it can say a lot and make you think and feel a certain way. I feel like we should always learn and accept the understanding of all artwork because it was made for a reason and it can be very interesting. We should understand the beauty and history of different traditions and art of different cultures to learn more and it can be very inspirational to others. - Elizabeth M.
What was inspiring about this quote wad that, with african culture they make use of everything that they have. Nothing does to waste l, and every thing they do is crucial to there way of life.
What the point of looking at art when you can’t see what it is truly meant to do. In the beginning of the video they were making a headdress for a dance. As you can see the head dress is full of their culture. The headdress is meant to be wear and to be show off and be put in a room where people look at it. If it is just put in a room where people look at it then it will lose it true meaning. Also why would you westernized the art it is suppose to be a traditional African art. Your basically taking all the credit that belong to the African and making it yours. Just because our art is different from other people doesn’t mean that we have to change their art to become the same as our. Every culture art is different and that what make it interesting. We get to learn new things by seeing different types of art we get new ideas from seeing different art around the world. From a art piece it can tell us a lot about what this culture is about.
My interpretation from this quote is that you can do many different things with many different objects and that all objects that there are have a purpose of something and that we should learn about cultures that we have never heard of or learned about-Ashly Aguilar
My interpretation from this quote is as a sculptor you want your work to be viewed the way you view it because is a special creation you don't want your hard work to just to become art because sculpting is used for many things in africa and they are amazing pieces therefore i agree with this quote because having something that you made just be display is not a good thing because it took them a lot of time and effort to make so they want their work to be worth the time and to be useful.
This statement demonstrates that African Art has deep and rich cultural meaning to it, along with historical. Art in Africa is symbolical to the people who take so much time to sculpt and craft these intricate pieces of work. When showcased in museums, the art work loses its value to the African people and only become useful for the aesthetic when it's scrutinized to something not made for its intended use. As African art emphasizes the ideals of ancestors, animals and gods, the western word doesn't truly capture the full meaning. With such deep cultural background to the artwork, people will not understand the context when observing the traditional artwork.
This statement really resonated with me because It's really amazing to me how white people get inspired and so much fame from our culture, but never give credit to deserves it. We are always looked down upon, but when they finally like something that we made, they just take credit for it. African Culture is so unique and revolutionary and needs so much credit. I wasn't trying to be negative but things like this are just an example of credit not being acknowledged, but it also just represents how amazing African culture is and how diverse it is. - Mia J
My interpretation of this quote is that Europeans don’t really understand African culture/ objects. This is because they believe that the older the object is the more money and precious it is. However for Africans they use their objects for religious reasons, which is for a one time use. This causes me to believe that Europeans don’t take the time out to fully understand why Africans create and use these objects. They are basically exploiting African culture for their own benefits not recognizing the true meaning behind it. Which is not fair.
-Layelle Roberson
Statement “what European artist find so attractive an African art is precisely freedom”.
My interpretation of this quote is that people don’t realize or understand the true meaning behind the amazing African art. People don’t realize the thought sweat and time put into the designs. African art shows the true culture it’s raw and rare . People in Africa are still fightIng for freedom and some already have it found it. One example is they could put breast, where they don’t usually belong and they can make it oversized. Clearly, the culture and background draws the eyes of people that usually thinks they are superior than everyone.
I think that what this statement is saying is that, some artists have freedom to create what they desire and some artist’s don’t have that freedom. Some artists have the option to create what they’re hearts desire and some artists have to stick with what they have to create.
statement-“ For Europeans the older an object is the more valuable it becomes, whereas our statuettes, our masks are really religious objects used in rituals, they have limited active life”
My interpretation of this quote is that people don’t realize or understand the true meaning behind the amazing African art. People don’t realize the thought sweat and time put into the designs. This causes me to believe that Europeans don’t take the time out to fully understand why Africans create and use these objects. They are basically exploiting African culture for their own benefits not recognizing the true meaning behind it. Which is not fair.
-Jamira Esquilin
People when they go to a art museum it’s really rare that people really deeply understand the background of the art work. Mostly when it’s a cultural, people don’t appreciate it. And don’t think deeply about it. They see it as a one more art work. That not fair because the person Who made the art work really work hard and took there time and put a meaningful thought, when people see it. It has a background. People should start seeing the true meaning. And give all the credit to the African.
I believe that this quote demonstrates how people have biased opinions on how we perceive things (in this case, African art) due to the environment we see it in and the way we see it. However, we also use our misconceptions of what we know to perceive and interpret a meaning from the art we see. Therefore, learning about the art from it's source and in its natural environment will give us a better understanding of it's true meaning and purpose. That will make us see the art in a new way and in a way that's more accurate.
This statement caught my attention because i noticed that everyone in this film was repeating the same things in a way. Their main point is to respect and honor African art in the way it was originally made. Taking their art, interpreting it in their own western way and displaying it in a museum, without the correct information is wrong. They need to provide more valid context and background information on each art piece.
The statement " Historically the masks dances or ... as they're called are performed at funerals and other religious occasions." I found this statement very interesting because it's a beautiful thing to truly realise how different cultures, traditions, and religions can be. I say this because in my culture, it is not tradition to wear a mask or to have a performance during a funeral. Everyone grieves in silence and emotion and by wearing all black, paying respect. If we were to dance, wear a mask or anything like that, we'd be viewed as disrespectful and our behavior would seem unusual. I appreciate seeing that other cultures don't just mourn in their sadness, they also celebrate and pay their respects in a creative way.
Based on the video there is many back stories about African masks and what the traditional meanings are in the mask. Each mask tells stories of the past or about someone one such as the Fulani women mask which represents the tall pale light skin women in their tradition dance; what inspired me about this statement is that everything such as mask and water, etc they all tell an amazing back story about the past and what it was like, so the details on the body of the women and the mask tells little detail about people. when you make art your telling a backstory on the art piece. it can tell anger happiness etc.
Even though this was said at the very begging it really stuck with me not only does it show how we are not able to understand African art because we need to know how actual Africans appreciate and use their art. But this statement left me thinking about it not only in the form of African art but also in life because we can never truly understands something or ones beauty without knowing and understanding the full picture. Also everyone will have a different point of view so if you can try to understand everyone's point of view you will be able to figure out its true beauty.
-Anyah Lewis
People don’t truely talk about African culture and fashion and people simply don’t embrace it as lots. African artwork is so full of feelings and it is a better manner to explicit yourself. African artwork inspired me to need to design a comparable piece. Also I agree with that African art is very particular andi feel like we should give extra credit score to the individuals who design it as it is a lot of labor. Also I clearly liked ms David lifted statement “you may do with the frame whatever you need and at the identical time preserve it real.... I clearly thought this quote become also inspiring me on who to chose for my style art history venture. Ultimately I agree with that African art has a extra actual which means closer to it and those aren't understanding it.
This quote shows that the artist in Africa don’t get credit or enough compensation for their art. It also illustrates that many people are interested in African art because it’s authentic and not like other pieces of art it charged the way art is now created.
Darian Castillo
Quote: in the winter we call the chiewawa
I don’t know what a chiewawa is but I think it is a type of animal or a dance or something I feel like people don’t really understand what
Africans go through they have to dig and grow food and kill animals and do everything from scratch I mean like on thanksgiving they have to kill a turkey and pluck it and take out there insides I mean that’s some hard work
Statement-
“African art should be seen as its own content and not just a natural tradition”
-The inspiring part about this quote is that everything and everyone should be seen as their self and not just on special days. Everything should have different purposes even though most art from Africa in museums are very rare. People really don’t accept/ truly talk about art besides on special traditional days. People don’t see the true meaning behind things. As things become older they become more valuable and people start liking it more.
what inspired me about this quote is that it explains partial meaning behind these arts. All the african art hae a strong story or meaning for it. they symbolize freedom to the africans. they have been through so much in there past and they put detail into these art work. its obvious that the designs are really valued by the africans due to their history.
- This explains how some of African art was created to serve a purpose, not be an art object. Some were worn, used as currency and etc. That shows how the people who worked on those objects, had put a lot of effort into creating essential things which would later be considered art. This is why African Art is special in a way because some of these things we appraise to be an expensive art piece were not even created to be that.
This statement to me means that we all view art through our own standards and lenses that have been conditioned by our society. We will always try to make a piece of art make sense to what we know it to be, or know it to relate to. We will view art as a puzzle piece meant to fit in with the rest of the art and parts of our society we’re familiar with. Everybody has their own standards of art and beauty and we only form ours based on our society and culture. Nothin more, nothing less.
The quote goes along to say everywhere in the world should and do have a certain tale for all art. But people from around the world would take African art from its original homeland and change its meaning which causes for museums and galleries to form a different story and meaning towards the artwork. African artwork is different from an
anywhere around the world due to the hand made designs, details, color, culture, and the story.
For centaury Africa ocupaded vivid place. The people there are very cultural. Most of the people there was farmers because that's the only thing they know how to do. The chihuahua is what represent the farmers, when the rain season start they celebrate , it force them to the field and give them strength to cultivate the land. When people collect African art and put them in art museum some African think art value to native African.
Hearing this from the video, makes me realize that people aren't looking at African Art through the right perspectives, which are to really get to know it and see what's so special about it, not only to the people but in general. To really understand African art, one must put themselves in the shoes of an African person who understands the value of its culture and art. It isn't about the designs, or the way its made and how, it is about what it represents to the people of Africa and what it is used for and how. African Art has meaning, it represents something far grater than just where these people come from.
When hearing the guest person speak this I could automatically tell he was being sarcastic. He was saying how people don't appreciate the value of true art and they don't care about the history of these pieces. I Totally agree with him because now people go to museums just to take pictures of them selves next to the art but don't actually read the historic facts which is super unfortunate. A lot of skills, materials, and patients come with making a true art pieces and it sometimes goes unnoticed.
I honestly like how they keep parts of their culture private. It's very rare at least in my culture for us to purposely keep things between us because not everything meant to be shown to others and not everything will be understood. I like that about their culture because we live in a world and generation where people do things for attention, to look good, or to just be follower. So to see that there is a a culture that actually raises their families to know that some things can just be private and enjoyable is amazing.
My interpretation of this statement is that westerners have such a set idea of what "African culture" is supposed to be that Africans have had to cater to that idea. Africans used the more colorful and cartoonish headdresses and garments because it was "more appealing to the western eye". And it's upsetting because no culture should have to alter or even hide the real traditions they have just to satisfy a tourist. But on the other hand, the fact that they keep some of their tradition hidden from an outside eye is a good thing to me. Because I feel like if they did the actual dances in front of tourists it would take away some of the meaning and how sacred they are.
When I was listening to the video, I heard this line and automatically thought of how people who aren't from a place find their traditions fasinating when it is a normal thing to them because it is what they're used to. The western people have always found a way to input their opinion on matters that have nothing to do with them so calling their pottery and masks art is just another way of doing so. African culture don't see these creations as art, they see it as them being apart of their history by keeping within the tradition so I feel that this mindset should be respected and followed in order to show respect to their culture no matter if you consider it art or not.
-Wendi Escobar
This means that through out time, for many years African art was seen different, and with different other cultures made it seem unusual and less of art. The continent itself was seen as something it is not in any way. This is an example of judging the book by its cover. Creating false stereotypes, and branding a culture based on in-diverse and ignorant ays of perceiving art, and cultures. The African Artists and people don't often consider their art like others might. Their art is a way of life, its a lavish lifestyle. They take pride in their art and culture even though its perceived as something else to many.
This shows that the African culture is so genuine and deep, Although changing the way you are supposed to carve wouldn't matter and they'll probably try to find light of it. With this being said I feel that African's appreciate their culture more than American's
What I mean by this is that not everyone knows the story behind African art. In African Art there is a message in every painting. African Art is done with freedom, theirs no bounderies everything is endless.
“ Putting them in a gallery ... from an african’s point of view they become useless”
Their sculptures, paintings, masks, etc. is what makes their civilization. They hold power and expression. Each piece of art has its own function. And this goes for all cultures, the origin and context don’t travel with art to the museum. Art is more than just pretty and detailed. There are stories behind them that they lose making them useless to the originators because it’s nothing without a meaning . Especially if know one knows the meaning.
This statement means to me that people in West Africa had more cultural freedom as for the people east. They were able to connect to more spiriturly with their ancestors from the past to reconnect themselves with lost heritage, and continue the rituals past down from there grandparents to there parents and now to the younger kids in West Africa Today. This is significantly important because without cultural freedom kids aren't able to practice nor learn their ancestor's past art and belief. This would give west Africa a real look at how their ancestors used fashion and objections they carved by hand. That in there cultural holds valuable meanings and expressions to the people of West Africa.
This statement really reaches out to me because I love museums and I saw these masks and statues differently. I didn’t know what they ment or why they were carving these objects and thought it was weird. Now knowing their culture and history it’s actually beautiful.When it’s put in the museum’s it really takes out the context or meaning of them. In reality they use them for a variety of things that are very important to their culture like: to speak to their gods / spiritual figures or have ceremonies with costumes. No body looks at a price of African art fully knowing the backstory of their history or culture.
African art has influenced artists all around the world. The painting les demoiselles d avignon by Pablo Picasso was inspired by the African art that he saw while visiting the Ethnographic Museum of the Trocadero. The scarrations on the faces of the women is the picture and the twisted facial features are directly related to those of historic African art pieces. American fashion designer Jeremy Scott, the creative director and owner of the brand MOSCHINO, designed this sequined, flesh-toned dress inspired by this same painting. This specific look was presented during Moschino’s Fall 2020 Milan Fashion Week Show. This shows how African art is displayed in fashion today as well as it was 100 years ago. African art has a unique yet raw feeling to it that will never go out of style.
https://fashiondesigndistancelearning.blogspot.com/2020/05/fashion-art-history-unit-1-african-art.html
~KALIYAH ROBERTSON COLE
This statement is one that caught my attention honestly because it sums up how the people who create these pieces aren’t doing this as an art but rather for the tradition they have followed for many years. To them they don’t see it as an art but rather do it to serve a function not to be displayed in a museum. They don’t call it art either which I find surprising because the only ones who call it art are those who bring it to the western world to be shown in museums but it’s given the inspiration such as Picasso to be more into this type of art. Thus is why I chose this this statement.- OSCAR SANTIAGO
I think it's really unfortunate that their artistic freedom is limited because a lot of these african artists are very good at what they do and they out a lot of work into their craft. They're very talented if give the chance, can create masterpieces that have never been done before. -Lucus L
What I take from this is the way we perceive Africa and how artists display African Art is based of early modern artists perspective and what they picked up like behaviors or even the way they do ceremonies and traditions.
When I see this video and my knowledge is that the artists that they had to follow rules because they are not allow to break the religion and they will always have to have a positive behavior and attitude.
I believe this quote represents African Art at its best because a lot of African Art is curated and stems from their rich, strong, and diverse cultures. Although many art forms from all over the world are just as important as African Art, the significance and influence of African Art belongs to one of the most diverse legacies on earth. It is done with such freedom, emotion, and there is always a story behind each piece of art without no boundaries.
-Sydney Munoz