Angelica Davis Infinito: World Civilization African Dance & Statues African Dance is a performing art deeply woven into the social fabric of Africa and generally involving aspects of music and theatre, as well as rythmetic bodily movement. (http://www.britannica.com/blackhistory/article-9384736). Traditional African Dance was created to express the life in the community by not the typical going to church and praising God through song and clapping. Traditional African Dance mostly refers to the Sub-Saharan Africa. African Dance is important to Africa to show many cultural differences in musical and movement styles.
The term African Design can be interpreted by different people according to personal feelings and emotions. Designers would refer to the aesthetics of a design whereas illustrators or fashion experts may argue that the traditional African patterns and shapes is what gives it an African feel (Fourie, 2012). Either way one looks at it, African Design boils down to how the various African cultures are represented through each product. By analyzing traditional rituals and art pieces as well as comparing them to contemporary South African designs, this paper will assess the role of vivid history and traditions on contemporary designs. We will also touch on the subject of how traditional African art and artifacts can easily loose their uniqueness when taken out of context.
The Baga Drum was carved from a single piece of wood and animal skin in the surface. The drum is about 35 inches high by 11 inches diameter. Originally would have been painted at the time of its creation in the early 20th century. The form of this drum is a female figure supporting a globe-shape drum on her head that was likely inspired by real practices of Baga women. Baga women and children often carry a great clay water vessels and large rice filled basket on their heads.
The animals featured in this story were once found throughout most of Africa. Storytelling affirms pride and identity in a culture. In Africa, stories are created by and for the ethnic group telling them. Different ethnic groups in Africa have different rituals or ceremonies for storytelling, which creates a sense of belonging to a cultural group. The tales from
El Anatsui intended for the drape to be a reminder of African culture and past even with western influenced society. The Lion Stool is also a significant reminder of African culture. In Asante culture, a stool indicates a significant event in an individual’s life. The Golden Stool is a prominent symbol for all political position. A leader is not put in office, but “enstooled”.
Oral tradition is complex, highly stylized, and carries a political and social value. African oral tradition, or “orature”, is said to mean “the artistic use of language in oral performance” (Mphande). This can be seen through songs that fulfill a deep-rooted tradition while creating interactions with the audience and performer. One example shown in class was called kayuni, or small bird. The singer was calling for the audience to come see the small bird that moved many ways.
Both of these sources offered interesting insight into the ways of life across the African nations. At the art museum, I noticed that many of the objects depicted gods and spirits. I saw masks that were worn for religious ceremonies. There were also many statues of gods. These objects were different among the different regions, but they were each representative of gods.
Anansi stories came into the United Stated through South Carolina. The Anansi spider tales are told as "Aunt Nancy" stories by the Gullah of the southeastern part of the U.S. Use of Nature In the African folk tales, the stories reflect the culture where animals abound; consequently, the monkey, elephant, giraffe, lion, zebra, crocodile, and rhinoceros appear frequently along with a wide variety of birds such as the ostrich, the secretary bird, and the eagle. The animals and birds take on human characteristics of greed, jealousy, honesty, loneliness, etc. Through their behavior, many valuable lessons are learned. Also, the surroundings in which the
Cypsiurus parvus, commonly known as the African Palm Swift, is an important contributor to the avifauna of Sub-Saharan Africa. Found in the order Apodiformes, family Apodidae, and genus Cypsiurus, these humming-bird relatives primarily feed on insects, beetles, termites and spiders (Moreau 1941). The distribution of this species depends on the presence of palm trees, as the supportive fronds are the swifts’ favoured nesting site (Moreau 1941). The swift builds its nest on the upper edge of the leaf using feathers, cotton fibres and copious amounts of saliva for adhesion (Moreau 1941). The nest is a vertical platform, forcing the swift to glue its eggs to the nest with saliva to ensure their safety (Hails and Turner 1982).
In Ghana, they are made of sese wood; in Kenya they are made of Mvuli wood. Ebony is a black, hard, dense type of wood. It is one of the most expensive kinds of wood in the world, although, just like any wood does, ebony dries and cracks. Africans tend to call Ebony carvings “Mpingo.” Ebony carvings, like soapstone carvings, are usually animal and human figures. Jewelry is made and worn in Africa, for not only looking beautiful.