Africa

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This course is a part of AP®︎ Art History, a 13-course Topic series from Khan Academy.

Human life, which is understood to have begun in Africa, developed over millions of years and radiated beyond the continent of Africa. The earliest African art dates to 77,000 years ago. While interpretation of this art is conjectural at best, the clarity and strength of design and expression in the work is obvious.

This course contains 15 segments:

Great Zimbabwe National Monument (UNESCO/NHK)

The ruins of Great Zimbabwe, the capital of the Queen of Sheba, according to an age-old legend are a unique testimony to the Bantu civilization of the Shona between the 11th and 15th centuries. The city, which covers an area of nearly 80 ha, was an important trading centre and was renowned from the Middle Ages onwards. Source: UNESCO TV / © NHK Nippon Hoso Kyokai URL: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/364/

Great Mosque of Djenné

Benin Plaques

Benin Plaques, Edo peoples, Benin kingdom, Nigeria c. 1530-1570, Edo peoples, Benin kingdom, Nigeria (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) Speakers: Dr. Kathryn Wysocki Gunsch, Teel Curator of African and Oceanic Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and Dr. Beth Harris

Benin Plaque: Equestrian Oba and Attendants

Sika dwa kofi (Golden Stool), Asante people

Sika dwa kofi (Golden Stool), Asante people (Ghana), c. 1700 and Asante gold weights (University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology) Speakers: Dr. Peri Klemm and Dr. Beth Harris

Portrait of King Mishe miShyaang maMbul (Kuba peoples)

Power Figure (Kongo peoples)

Female (pwo) mask (Chokwe peoples)

Female (pwo) mask, Chokwe people, Democratic Republic of Congo, early 20th century, wood, plant fiber, pigment, copper alloy, 39.1 cm high (Smithsonian National Museum of African Art) Speakers: Dr. Peri Klemm and Dr. Beth Harris

Owie Kimou, Portrait Mask (Mblo) of Moya Yanso (Baule peoples)

by Dr. Peri Klemm

Bundu / Sowei Helmet Mask (Mende peoples)

Bundu or Sowei Helmet Mask (Ndoli Jowei), Mende, Nguabu Master (Moyamba district, Sierra Leone), late 19th-early 20th century, wood and pigment, 39.4 x 23.5 x 26 cm (Brooklyn Museum) Speakers: Dr. Peri Klemm and Dr. Steven Zucker Sowei refers most specifically to medicine—the kind of medicine that female healers/herbalists utilize. Embodied in this idea of medicine is a spiritual force. The mask, when danced, is a visual expression of this spirit. The term also refers to the custodian of the medicine — a Sande official.

Male figure, Ikenga (Igbo Peoples)

Ikenga, Igbo Peoples, Nigeria, wood (University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology) Speakers: Dr. Peri Klemm and Dr. Steven Zucker

Elephant Mask, Kuosi Society, Bamileke Peoples, Cameroon

Elephant (Aka) Mask, Kuosi Society, Bamileke Peoples, Grassfields region of Cameroon, 20th century, cloth, beads, raffia, fiber, 146.7 x 52.1 x 29.2 cm (Brooklyn Museum) Speakers: Dr. Peri Klemm and Dr. Steven Zucker

Fang Reliquary Figure

Reliquary Guardian Figure (Eyema-o-Byeri), Gabon, Fang peoples, mid 18th to mid 19th century, wood and iron, 58.4 cm high (Brooklyn Museum) Speakers: Dr. Peri Klemm and Dr. Beth Harris

Lukasa (memory board) (Luba peoples)

Essay by Juliet Moss

Olowe of Ise, Veranda Post (Yoruba people)

Olowe of Ise, Veranda Post, before 1938 (Yoruba people, Nigeria), wood, pigment, 180.3 x 28.6 x 35.6 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) Speakers: Dr. Peri Klemm and Dr. Steven Zucker