Why African Art Matters
African Art really is Art
(This is me getting up on my soap box…)
If you live in the US, the UK or Europe you might be thinking, “well duh, of course it is.” That’s not necessarily true for those of us who grew up in Africa. In fact, most of us think / thought about it as junk that gets thrown at tourists – it never occurred to us that it’s precious to people, and that it was real art.
(It’s the same with a lot of Canadians and their First Nations’ art.)
I’ve had something of an awakening since I’ve lived overseas, and my mind has been vastly opened.
- I’ve realised that art does not equal classical paintings
- I’ve realised that Greek / Roman sculptures aren’t important because they’re old, but because they’re a window into another culture (just like African Sculpture is)
- I’ve realised that a different artistic style doesn’t mean a better style or a worse one, only another take on life
- I’ve realised that we all judge from our positions of strength, and from our positions of familiarity. Novelty / challenge makes something beautiful or appealing or exciting – that’s why the minute your remove a piece from its natural environment it suddenly becomes more valuable by far
Now I’m not going to ramble on about how excited I am about Africa (I’m very positive in general actually) or on why African masks are important (check back in a couple of days…). But, I know that this thing is important – we need to value our cultures and our heritages and help protect them.
This blog is just one of the ways I want to help cherish that legacy and bring to light some of its more complex facets, and have a bit of fun and learn on the way. Join me on my journey.
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Have a great day.
