A primer to symbolism in African art

A primer to symbolism in African art One of the most interesting aspects of African art is how powerfully it varies among regions. For example, African tribes from Cote d’Ivoire often focus on making art through wood-carving and rarely focus on other... More

A primer to symbolism in African art One of the most interesting aspects of African art is how powerfully it varies among regions. For example, African tribes from Cote d’Ivoire often focus on making art through wood-carving and rarely focus on other techniques such as painting or music. This is because a great part of these tribes’ tradition revolves around the idea of masks as sacred representations and manifestations of deity. Because these people believe that the wooden masks they create are crucial for their religious practices, it’s pretty obvious as to why they would focus on wood for all of their art. Another interesting type of African art is that of the Dogon tribe. Again, the Dogon tribe’s art originates more in their religious tradition, and as a result, it is heavily influenced by religious thought. Dogon art is primarily seen through sculpture. These sculptures are bold and use lots of powerful and readily apparent shapes and angles in their work. Until recently, Less