Content Area 6: Africa
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TEST: THURSDAY, 9/26
14 ARTWORKS - 6% of AP EXAM
Major Civilizations
Nok (500 BCE-200 CE)
Nigeria
Great Zimbabwe (11th- 15th c.) Zimbabwe
Ife Culture (11th-12th c.) Nigeria
Aksum (1200-1527)
Ethiopia
Benin (13th-19th c.)
Nigeria
Mende (19th-20th c.)
Sierra Leone
Kongo (19th-20th c.)
Congo
KEY IDEAS
* Centered around spirituality, the spirit world, and the role of ancestors is
huge to incorporate into artworks
* Fertility of man and of the land is key
* Most common materials are wood, ivory, and metal (HOWEVER, with international
trade, there could be incorporation of other materials, such as European glass
beads [similar to Indigenous American art after European contact])
* Mostly utilitarian, usually for ceremonies
* Architecture is predominately mudbrick
* Stone used in Zimbabwe and Ethiopian churches
**** Due to racist ideologies, 19th century European art historians were often
confused by African art & considered it to be static and unchanging ****
Student Resources
* Major Civilizations list with dates
* Key Ideas
* PowerPoint
* Artwork List
* Q Cards Images, Identifiers, & CCFF
*
Brooklyn Museum: African Arts
*
Bwoom Masks and the Brooklyn Museum
* Read about the Nok heads thematic
essay by Heilbrunn Timeline
**** Visit Khan Academy's SmartHistory AP Art History section on
Africa. ****
Vocabulary
* Key Cultural & Religious Terms: oba, oni, iy’oba,
scarification
* Key Art Terms: ikegobo, twisted perspective, composite view, monolith
* Key Architectural Terms: adobe, qibla
MRS. MCCONNELL'S INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN ART
(Mrs. McConnell refers to her classes presentations on African and Pacific - TAKE NOTE, You will be doing this very soon. You will be making presentations and comparisons of Hindu & Buddhist Art.
Scarification
Great Mosque of Djenné
Early African Art (Student Presentation - Good one!) - Good example for your future Asian Art Presentations!!!
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
Thank you so much to Lynn Wilkinson, Mary McConnell, Valerie Park and Martha Kunz
for all their quidance and resources.
