This ambitious publication centers indigenous perspectives on traditional artworks from Africa by focusing on the judgments and vocabularies of members of the communities who created and used them. It explores cross-cultural affinities spanning the African continent while respecting local contexts; it also documents an exhibition that is extraordinary in scope and scale. The project’s overriding goal is to reconsider Western evaluations of these arts in both aesthetic and financial terms. The volume features nearly 300 works from collections around the world and from the important holdings of the Art Institute of Chicago. Although it emphasizes the sculptural legacy of sub-Saharan cultures from West and Central Africa, it also includes examples of artistic traditions associated with eastern and southern Africa as well as textiles and objects designed for domestic, ritual, and decorative functions.

Author

Constantine Petridis (Editor)

PublisherArt Institute of Chicago

Print publication date April 2022 (in print)

Print ISBN 9780300260045

EISBN 9780300269918

Illustrations 345

Print Status in print

Publisher (in print)

WorldCat

Google Books

Base text size -

Chapter images ()