STYLE MILE : African art as inspiration (Part 1)

Some say that African art doesn’t exist. So I started documenting this subject and I found some really inspirational patterns, forms and color combinations.

Contemporary art of Africa

“To hell with African art. I have boon forced- me, an artist from Africa! - to consider African art as a hindrance to my artistic projects rather than a favorable framework for fulfillment.” ~ by Hassan Musa, an artist, born in Sudan but now living and working in France. These words of frustration felt by many contemporary “African artists”, who are angry at the labels imposed on them and their work by Western aesthetics.

Worship Object made by Hassan Musa, Sudan/ France.

This painted textile is covered with repeating images of everyday objects. “It’s form is reminiscent of the various types of ‘charm gown’ worn by peoples of Sudanic Africa, garments which are covered with objects and/or patterns and colors calculated to protect their owners from harm.”

Appliquéd cotton wall-hanging Made by Chant Avedissian, Cairo, Egypt 1989-90.

This wall hanging was created in the late ’80s. Avedissian was inspired from the art of tent making, who created large elaborately pattern masques for centuries, which provide the backdrop to many important events in urban Egypt.

My favorite was the ‘Big Masquerade with boat and household on his head` Made by Sokari Douglas Camp, in ’95.

It’s made from wood, pigments, steel, glass and synthetic material. This sculpture relates to a contemporary Kalabari masquerade. The story is about a water spirit, who joins their worshipers among the world of men. “As a Kalabari woman, she could not perform in the predominantly male preserve of masquerade, still less make art out of it, particularly using a medium-metal- the working of which remains an almost exclusively male domain throughout Africa. However, as an artist her androgynous persona allows her to transcend gender division and to move between worlds, a little like a spirit she is portraying in this sculpture.”

This sculpture is really inspiring. The color combination is well thought out. She used red spotted paint for expressing blood on apron. The personality of this sculpture is really dramatic and evil but in the same time protective. The dramatic personality is expressed by the unpainted still. The head and apron is painted like a camouflage expressing a two faced person. This work of art reminds me of fashion today and ordinary people, who want to be more, than what they are.

The other favorite piece is the “Drum” made by Nja Mahdaoui, La Marsa, Tunisia, ’97. This drum is made of woos, skin, pigment, gold and fiber.

Looking at these hieroglyphs, which I can’t figure it out, but makes my mind to think of them as a pattern. Looking at the writing I can see the contrast between colors and texture. This drum is really inspiring, all I can think of is a dress covered with these hieroglyphs in different ways.

The next work of art is the “Knowledge is Sweeter than Honey” made by Susan Hefuna in 2007. This particular piece was made out of wood. She used this motto written in Arabic script and incorporate in this dual heritage. Makes me think about OP art.

The art of Masquerade

Masquerades in Africa are an art of transformation. They are the most important elements of African art. The actual headpiece is often obscured by a secondary decoration and paint. Masquerades include wild beasts, spirits even the death. Mostly this ritual includes only man, but there is a rear ritual performed by woman of Sierra Leone, for the water spirit Abbi Alagba.

“European artists saw what they wanted to see in the art of Africa and in so doing created the notion of ‘Primitive Art’ with all its racist connotation which continue to the present day. ”

There are Otobo masks: Click here! made by Kalabari people in Nigeria.

The African mask history is really wide and interesting, I can’t write about it within the limited boundaries of this short article.

African textile

African clothing started with masks and body painting, today is a repeated pattern and color full textiles. Clothing in Africa is a means of displaying power and prestige. Clothing's may also carry a combination of visual images or written inscriptions which provide ways to communicating public and personal messages about health, politics, etc. The techniques and materials used to produce cloth vary greatly within Africa. Cotton and synthetic yarn are widely used. Today machine-printed cloth is extremely popular in Africa.

This pattern is used for skirts. (‘Cut-pile’ skirt Raffina palm fiber and natural) African forms and color combination are rich.

Sometimes a person's true wealth and status in the community will only be fully realized after his death, trough the cloths displayed at his funeral.

The cloths are woven by men, and then painstakingly embroidered by women using the ‘cut-pile’ technique, in which a special knife is employed to cut individual strands of raffia to create a soft, velvety texture to the cloth. The women's have, by implication, neglected other domestic chores to complete these prestigious cloths which are then left unused until funerary ceremony.

Another typical cloth accessories are the woman’s warp-around outer garment (ride’ahmar)

These are some modern prints.

Tunic: is the most common cloth of Africa. They call it jibba.

“The most common type of tunic was particularly associated with the Baqqara Arabs, who rapidly became the ruling elite in the military autocracy which developed when their leader, the Khalifa, succeeded the Mahdu in 1885. The spear-kike motifs which appear on the patch pockets of the jibba may have been designed to pierce the evil eye and thus negate its harmful effect. The breast pockets may also have contained amulets.”

The other African traditional clothing is the “Ceremonial skull cap”.