module 10: african art's line of hearts

Chloe Carr
10.4.18

1. I decicded to watch African Art and African Art: Legacy of Oppression because I wanted to know more about the history of art from Africa. I especially would like to know what influence being oppressed for decades has on African art, and how much of that influence may still be present in modern, African art.

2. From the video African Art I learned that people in Africa use art every day in their life. They use art for things like their buildings, clothes, utensils, and accessories. It's used for expression and can especially be found in African statues, masks, and other objects. Most of these objects were used in  ceremonies for art and music and dance. These specific objects are ritualistic artifacts that are held in museums and hold significance in African history. African artists base their art on their own, "mental images and perceptions of invisible forces rather than from visible objects." Mnay people look at Africa and believe they have just one style of art, but African art is very diverse as there are many different kinds of art that can be found in Africa itself.
   From the video African Art: Legacy of Oppression I learned about the African art being stored in the Belgium's Tervuren Museum. The specific art is made up of over 200 different African cultures. The art in this museum is different than that in other museums because of its influence. Unlike the art people may associate with African art, the art there has a different sense of energy to it. For example, the video showed a scuplture of a man whose face was facing front but whose body was twisted and scary thin. There were also masks that were bone white that the video described as being associated with death. The reason these forms of art are so "morbid" are because they are symbolic to oppression. The art that was being shown in this video is art that is being used to show what being oppressed had done to the. Something I found interesting was that they made masks that were supposed to intimidate westerners in battle, yet they realized it had no effect on the outcome during that time.

3. The videos relate to the readings in the text because Chapter 18 teaches about the different art forsm in Africa. One very interesting thing that I learned from this chapter is about the masquerades. The one that the book expands on is the performance of the oneyocha, which translates to "white man." This performance depicts a white man writing in a notebook while other maskers dance. The reason for this is to show what they believe Europeans are like, writing in their notebooks when they visit but never really understanding anything because they don't focus on important things. Something from the text that relates to the videos is when they start talking about regal robes that Africans wear. We saw the same traditional pattern in the video African Art, and I learned that that specific kind of pattern is for those who are sacred.

4. I really enjoyed watching the films for a number of reasons. Having already known the history behind African heritage and knowing what the hardships we've had to overcome, I really think learning more about their art is something I really enjoyed. I liked learning about African art before, after, and during the years of oppression they had to withstand. I feel like I better understand African art when it comes to their cultural art, and I better understand the meaning behind the differetn kinds of art.