African art

26 November 2004, the annual conference of the African Studies Association in the Netherlands (NVAS) was held at the National Museum of Ethnology in Leiden. The theme of the conference was "Art in Africa?"  and discussion focused on the dynamics of  various visual art  forms on the continent, notably in West Africa. The Library, Documentation and Information Department of the African Studies Centre has compiled this web dossier on African art to coincide with the NVAS conference.

The dossier is based  on the ASC library's collection and contains titles of books and articles published in the last ten years. Each title links directly to the corresponding record in the online catalogue, which provides details about each title and abstracts of articles and edited works. A brief introduction on the ways in which African arts have been categorized is followed by titles on African art in general, visual arts, painting, and sculpture. A number of periodicals on African arts are listed separately. The dossier concludes with a selection of web resources on African art.

1. Introduction
2. African Art
3. Visual Arts
4. Painting
5. Sculpture
6. Periodicals on African Art
7. Selected Web Resources

For further information, please email us at asclibrary@ascleiden.nl or phone: +31 (0)71 5273354
 

Introduction

African arts have been defined and categorized in many ways in the academic literature. The focus may be on the art object and its characteristics, its meaning and representation, its role in society, the transformations it has undergone from traditional to modern, or its role in the international community.

Historical overviews of African arts that focus on chronology usually start with the rock paintings in southern Africa and the material culture of Nubia and Egypt, and end with the Shona stone sculptures in Zimbabwe that only developed in the 1960s. Historical overviews that take into consideration the geographical distribution of African arts divide the continent into four main regions (north, west and central, eastern, and southern Africa) and show a huge cultural diversity by region.                                                                                                                                                      

In his article ‘Arts and Society since 1935’, the historian Jan Vansina (1993), by focusing on users and patrons, proposes four broad categories to distinguish the new visual arts in Africa today – namely traditional, tourist, urban popular, and academic art. While not rigid, these categories have remained remarkably stable since 1935 when anthropologists began to conduct fieldwork and material culture became the subject of systematic research. According to Vansina, the four categories differ from each other as follows:

• Traditional art, figurative or geometric and often sculpture or masks but also wall-paintings, is practised in the countryside and in a few of the older cities. The objects made, except for mural decors, have practical and ritual applications. Certain users stand out, for example, institutions such as initiation ceremonies for boys or girls, funerals, courts and Christian churches as well as some palaces of former rulers.
• Tourist art is aimed at foreign patrons. Its subject matter accordingly favours exotic and anecdotal themes. The style is figurative and simplified and its canons are quite Europeanized.
• Urban popular art began around 1930, consisting mainly of paintings to decorate the walls of houses in town. Arising c. 1930 in Central Africa, and much earlier in North Africa, it was figurative, with portraits and historical, anecdotal and decorative subjects being favourite topics. Another variety of popular art is expressed in the sign paintings of shops, cinemas and so on.
• Academic art is practised by artists trained in Western principles of painting and sculpture, using European techniques. Patrons are usually governments, churches and the international market, and the subject matter is often similar to the repertoire in international use.
   

It is clear that the changes in African art in the last few decades mirror the changes in African society: urban popular art has emerged as urbanization occurred, and tourist art is flourishing as tourism and the expatriate presence increase. But the most important changes that have been taking place are those in the field of brokerage and patronage. African artists have found important sources of patronage in banks and commercial institutions and, internationally, in key patrons, art galleries, museums and private collectors, especially in the West. However, as in all art periods, important innovations as well as significant retentions of established styles and modes of expression co-exist. To quote Vansina again: "The new arts in Africa are a synthesis in which a selective small portion of the European heritage has been combined with a large African legacy".
 

African Art

Cameroun : art et architecture ; suivi de l'art de la sculpture / Henri Moussima Njanjo. - Paris [etc.] : L'Harmattan, 2003. - 60 p.  - (Pages Africaines). - Bibliogr.: p. [35]-36, [59]-60. - Met noten, samenvatting ISBN 2-7475-5359-0

A saint in the city : Sufi arts of urban Senegal / Allen F. Roberts and Mary Nooter Roberts ; with Gassia Armenian and Ousmane Gueye. - Los Angeles : UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, cop. 2003. - 284 p. : ill., krt. Uitg. ter gelegenheid van de gelijknamige tentoonstelling in het UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, Los Angeles. - Bibliogr.: p. 258-272. - Met gloss., index, noten ISBN 0-930741-93-5

Court arts in West Africa : finished forms of expression of urban life in pre-colonial cities / Joseph C.E. Adande
In: Museums & urban culture in West Africa / ed. by Alexis B.A. Adande & Emmanuel Arinze. - Oxford : James Currey: (2002), p. 47-54

South African handbook on arts & culture : 2002-2003 / comp. and ed. by Mike Van Graan and Tammy Ballantyne. - Cape Town : David Philip, 2002. - 384 p. : tab.  ISBN 0-86486-506-6 pbk                                                         

AIDS and the arts in Africa [video] : a documentary about African artists and the struggle against HIV/AIDS / prod. by Louise M. Bourgault ; with support from Northern Michigan University ; lighting: Anthony Whitlock ; set design: April Spray. - Harare [etc.] : Media for Development Trust [etc.], cop. 2001. - 1 videocassette [PAL] (20 min.). : kleur, gel. Visual summary of "Playing for life; performance in Africa in the Age of AIDS" by Louise M. Bourgault. - Durham, NC : Carolina Academic Press, 2003

Nomads who cultivate beauty : Wodaabe dances and visual arts in Niger / by Mette Bovin. - Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, 2001. - 110 p. : ill, foto's.  Lit. opg.: p. 76-79. - Met bijl., Deense samenvatting, noten ISBN 91-7106-467-2

The short century : Independence and Liberation Movements in Africa 1945-1994 / ed. by Okwui Enwezor ; with essays by Chinua Achebe ... [et al.]. - Munich [etc.] : Prestel, cop. 2001. - 496 p. : ill. Catalogus t.g.v. de gelijknamige tentoonstelling georganiseerd door het Museum Villa Stuck in München van 15 februari-22 april 2001 ; House of World Cultures in het Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlijn van 18 mei-22 juli 2001 ; Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago van 8 september-30 december 2001 ; Contemporary Art Center en The Museum of Modern Art in New York van 10 februari-5 mei 2002. - Met index ISBN 3-7913-2502-7 geb. ISBN 3-7913-2390-3 ppk

Auswärtsspiele : Anmerkungen zum Kulturaustausch mit Afrika / Iris Lenz
In: Internationales Afrikaforum: (2000), Jg. 36, Quart. 4, p. 361-367

The influence of globalization on South African artists / Sabine Marschall
In: Afrika Zamani: (1999/2000), no. 7/8, p. 107-119

Islam et arts au Sénégal / Abdou Sylla
In: Revue d'histoire maghrébine: (2000), année 27, no. 97/98, p. 159-180 : ill

Le Maroc en mouvement : créations contemporaines / sous la dir. de Nicole de Pontcharra, Maati Kabbal. - Paris : Maisonneuve et Larose ; [Casablanca] : Malika Editions, cop. 2000. - 243 p., [16] p. foto's. : foto's.  Met noten ISBN 2-7068-1426-8 (Paris).  ISBN 9981-17351-7 (Casablanca)

Morocco : Jews and art in a Muslim land / Daniel J. Schroeter ... [et al.] ; ed. by Vivian B. Mann. - London : Merrell, 2000. - 192 p. : ill.  In assoc. with The Jewish Museum, New York. - Uitg. bij de gelijknamige tentoonstelling: The Jewish Museum, New York, 24 september 2000-11 februari 2001. - Met lit.opg ISBN 1-85894-110-5 ISBN 1-85894-111-3 pbk

Rethinking African arts and culture / ed. by Dele Layiwola. - Cape Town : Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society (CASAS), 2000. - [VIII], 152 p. ; 22 cm. - (Casas book series ; 4). Bibliogr.: p. 147-152. - Met noten ISBN 1-919799-35-4

La créativité artistique africaine sous la tempête de la mondialisation / Iba Ndiaye Diadji
In: Éthiopiques: (1999), no. 63, p. 123-134

African art : the World Bank collection / ed. by Alexandre Marc. - Washington, D.C. : World Bank, 1998. - XIV, 92 p. : foto's, krt. Bibliogr.: p. 90-92 ISBN 0-8213-4195-2

Art criticism and Africa / ed. by Katy Deepwell. - London : Saffron Books, [ca. 1998]. - 125 p. : ill.  (African art and society series). Bibliogr.: p. 113-118. - Met bijl., index, noten
ISBN 1-87284-313-1

Arts and politics in Senegal, 1960-1996 / Tracy D. Snipe. - Lawrenceville, N.J. : Africa World Press, 1998. - XIV, 174 p. : fig. Bibliogr.: p. [143]-169. - Met index, noten ISBN 0-86543-613-4. ISBN 0-86543-614-2 pbk                                                                     

Penpoints, gunpoints, and dreams : towards a critical theory of the arts and the State in Africa / Ng~ug~i wa Thiong'o. - Oxford : Clarendon, 1998. - XI, 139 p.  - (The Clarendon lectures in English literature ; 1996) Met index, noten ISBN 0-19-818390-9

Baule : African art, Western eyes / Susan Mullin Vogel ; with field photogr. by the author. - New Haven, Conn : Yale University Press [etc.], 1997. - 312 p. : foto's. Uitg. t.g.v. de gelijknamige tentoonstelling, Yale University Art Gallery, in cooperation with The Museum for African Art, New York. - Bibliogr.: p. 302-307. - Met index ISBN 0-300-07317-8 cloth : alk. paper ISBN 0-89467-078-6 pbk. : alk. paper

Liberia in African cultural and artistic expressions, 1847-1997 / Similih M. Cordor
In: Liberian Studies Journal: (1997), vol. 22, no. 1, p. 78-82

Preliminary notes on audiences in Africa / Karin Barber
In: Africa / International African Institute: (1997), vol. 67, no. 3, p. 347-362

Art and religion in Africa / Rosalind I.J. Hackett. - London [etc.] : Cassell, 1996. - XIV, 226 p., [4] p. pl. : ill.  - (Religion and the arts series) Met lit. opg. en index ISBN 0-304-33752-8

Civilisation marocaine : arts et cultures / sous la dir. de Mohamed Sijelmassi, Abdelkébir Khatibi, El-Houssaïn El-Moujahid. - Casablanca : Éditions Oum [etc.], cop. 1996. - 311 p. : ill.
Bibliogr.: p. 308-309. - Met bijl ISBN 9981-95062-9

The culture of democracy : language, literature, the arts & politics in Malawi, 1992-1994 / Steve and Moira Chimombo. - Zomba : WASI Publications, 1996. - XI, 203 p. : tab. Bibliogr.: p. [193]-194. - Met bijl., noten ISBN 99908-4800-9

"Schildermalerei" oder "urban art"? : postmoderne Ansätze in der Interpretation afrikanischer Kunst / Till Förster
In: Paideuma / Frobenius-Institut: (1996), Bd. 42, p. 255-266

Some observations about philosophy, postmodernism and art in contemporary African studies / Barry Hallen
In: African Studies Review: (1995), vol. 38, no. 1, p. 69-80

Trans-liminal personality and the artistic culture of the transition period / Vil B. Mirimanov ; transl. from the Russian by Valentin Vydrine ; English text ed. by Joseph Lauer
In: St. Petersburg Journal of African Studies: (1995), no. 5, p. 101-113 : tab

Art and religion in Africa : some observations and reflections / by Rosalind I.J. Hackett
In: Journal of Religion in Africa: (1994), vol. 24, fasc. 4, p. 294-308

The politics of South Africa's National Arts Festival: small engagements in the bigger campaign / Kenneth W. Grundy
In: African Affairs: (1994), vol. 93, no. 372, p. 387-409

The Yoruba artist : new theoretical perspectives on African arts / ed. by Rowland Abi.odun, Henry J. Drewal and John Pemberton III. - Washington [etc.] : Smithsonian Institution Press, cop. 1994. - ix, 275 p. : ill.  Based on a 1992 symposium held at the Museum Rietberg Zürich. - Met lit. opg ISBN 1-560-98339-6 ISBN 1-560-98340-X pbk

The arts of Africa : an annotated bibliography / comp. by Janet L. Stanley. - 1 (1986/87) - 6 (1992). - Atlanta, GA : African Studies Association, [1989]-1997.  Verscheen 1 x per 2 jaar. - Niet verder verschenen ISSN 1044-8640
 

Visual Arts

Citizens and subjects in the bank : corporate visions of modern art and Moroccan identity / Katarzyna Pieprzak
In: The Journal of North African Studies: (2003), vol. 8, no. 1, p. 131-154 : ill.

The market for works of art : the case of African cultural goods / J. Ndeffo Fongue
In: The South African Journal of Economics: (2002), vol. 70, no. 8, p. 1320-1343 : graf., tab

Ways of the rivers : arts and environment of the Niger Delta  / Martha G. Anderson and Philip M. Peek, ed. ; with contrib. by E.J. Alagoa ... [et al.]. - Los Angeles, CA : UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, cop. 2002. - 363 p. : foto's., krt. Tentoonstellingscatalogus. - Bibliogr.: p. 356-363. - Met noten ISBN 0-930741-90-0                                                                                                                    

Ad fontes! : een interculturele zoektocht naar verborgen bronnen = an intercultural quest for hidden sources / Wouter Welling ; [eindred.: Wilfried van Damme ; vert.: Wendie Shaffer ... et al.]. - Berg en Dal : Afrika Museum, 2001. - 95 p. : ill.  Uitg. t.g.v. de tentoonstelling 'Ad fontes!, naar de bronnen!', gehouden van 15 september 2001 t/m 1 maart 2002 in het Afrika Museum, Berg en Dal. - Tekst in het Nederlands met daarnaast de Engelse vertaling. - Met biogr. kunstenaars, lit. opg. ISBN 90-71611-12-4

Aspects : Akan cultures in Ghana / [text: Daniel Mato and Steven van de Raadt ; transl.: Jane Hedley-Prole ; photos: Studio Buitenhof ... et al.]. - Den Haag : Gemeentemuseum, [2001]. - 96 p. : ill., foto's.  Uitg. bij de gelijknamige tentoonstelling 'Aspects, Akan cultures in Ghana', Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, 29 sept. 2001 - 6 jan. 2002. - Bibliogr.: p. 94-95 ISBN 90-6730-121-3 geb.

Exhibiting Ghana: display, documentary, and "national" art in the Nkrumah era / Janet Hess
In: African Studies Review: (2001), vol. 44, no. 1, p. 59-77

The "discovery" of the African mask / Dennis Duerden
In: Research in African Literatures: (2000), vol. 31, no. 4, p. 29-47

More than brothers : Peter Clarke & James Matthews at seventy / comp. and ed. by Hein Willemse. - Cape Town [etc.] : Kwela Books, 2000. - 143 p. : ill. Bibliogr.: p. 131-137. Met index, noten ISBN 0-7957-0095-4

Portraying a story : the narrative function of the human form in contemporary art of South Africa / Anneleen de Jong
In: Research in African Literatures: (2000), vol. 31, no. 4, p. 125-138

Tribal art traffic : a chronicle of taste, trade and desire in colonial and post-colonial times / Raymond Corbey. - Amsterdam : Royal Tropical Institute, cop. 2000. - 255 p. : ill.  Met lit. opg ISBN 90-6832-197-8

The verbal and the visual in a globalizing context : African and European connections as an ongoing process / Mineke Schipper
In: Research in African Literatures: (2000), vol. 31, no. 4, p. 139-154

Art as time-lines : sacral representation in family spaces / Nkiru Nzegwu
In: Sacred spaces and public quarrels : African cultural and economic landscapes / ed. by Paul Tiyambe Zeleza & Ezekiel Kalipeni. - Trenton, N.J. [etc.] : Africa World Press: (1999), p. 171-195

Authentiek Afrika / Ettagale Blauer ; [hoofdred.: Annlerie van Rooyen ; red.: Alfred LeMaitre ... et al. ; samenst. reg.: Claudia Dos Santos ; vert. uit het Engels Marthe Philipse i.e. Philips]. - Keulen : Könemann, cop. 1999. - 176 p. : foto's.  Met reg. - Vert. van: African elegance. - New Holland, 1999 ISBN 3-8290-3377-X geb.

Contemporary African art  / Sidney Littlefield Kasfir. - London : Thames and Hudson, 1999. - 224 p. : ill.  (The world of art library) Met lit. opg. en index ISBN 0-500-20328-8

Ethiopia : traditions of creativity / ed. by Raymond A. Silverman. - East Lansing, MI : Michigan State University Museum ; Seattle [etc.] : in assoc. with University of Washington Press, cop. 1999. - xix, 308 p. : ill. ISBN 0-295-97740-X pbk (University of Washington Press)

La violence muséale: aux origines d'un discours ambigu / Ibéa Atondi
In: Cahiers d'études africaines: (1999), vol. 39, cah. 155/156, p. 905-921

Aspekte der zeitgenössischen Kunst Ägyptens / Ursula und Gerhard Schernig
In: Internationales Afrikaforum: (1998), Jg. 34, Quart. 3, p. 290-293

Est-ce que l'art africain existe? / par Peter Mark
In: Revue française d'histoire d'outre-mer: (1998), t. 85, no. 318, p. 3-19 : foto's

Die Herrschaft des Sinns über die Sinne und Afrikas neue Kunst / Miklós Szalay
In: Internationales Afrikaforum: (1998), Jg. 34, Quart. 3, p. 271-276

Issues in contemporary African art / edited by Nkiru Nzegwu. - Binghamton, NY : International Society for the Study of Africa, ISSA at Binghamton University, cop. 1998. - vi, 218 p. : ill.  Includes bibliographical references (p. [197]-204) and index ISBN 1-89262-700-0

Observers are worried: the 'tribal image' is no more / John Picton
In: Internationales Afrikaforum: (1998), Jg. 34, Quart. 3, p. 281-289

Women, art and geometry in Southern Africa / by Paulus Gerdes. - Trenton, N.J. : Africa World Press, 1998. - XI, 244 p. : ill. Bibliogr.: p. 234-237. - Met bijl. ISBN 0-86543-601-0
ISBN 0-86543-602-9 pbk

Zeitgenössische Kunst in Afrika : Demontage einer Erwartungshaltung / Lydia Haustein
In: Internationales Afrikaforum: (1998), Jg. 34, Quart. 3, p. 263-270

Africa : women's art, women's lives / Betty LaDuke ; pref. by Mikelle Omari-Obayemi. - Trenton, NJ [etc.] : Africa World Press, cop. 1997. - XIX, 187 p. : ill.  ISBN 0-86543-434-4 ISBN 0-86543-435-2 pbk

Bearded figure with leather sandals: Islam, historical cognition, and the visual arts of the YorùbÁ / Razaq Olatunde Rom Kalilu
In: Africa / Istituto italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente: (1997), a. 52, n. 4, p. 579-591 : foto's

South African art : a story of Echo, Narcissus & blind Tiresias / Ricky Burnett. - Edinburgh : Centre of African Studies, University of Edinburgh, 1997. - 20 p. : ill., port.  - (Occasional papers, ISSN 1363-0342 ; 69) Omslagtiphone - Met noten

African form and imagery : Detroit collects / with an introductory essay by Nii O. Quarcoopome. - Detroit, Mich. : Detroit Institute of Arts, cop. 1996. - 120 p. : foto's, krt. Exhibition catalog. - Bibliogr.: p. 107-116. - Met index. ISBN 0-89558-145-0

Art in South Africa : the future present / Sue Williamson, Ashraf Jamal. - Cape Town [etc.] : David Philip, 1996. - 159 p. : foto's. Met index. ISBN 0-86486-321-7

Contemporary art of Africa / ed. and introd. by André Magnin with Jacques Soulillou ; [ed.: Phyllis Freeman ... et al. ; maps: Christine Edwards]. - London : Thames and Hudson, 1996. - 192 p. : ill. Met lit. opg., index.  ISBN 0-500-01713-1 geb.

Women and art in South Africa / Marion Arnold. - New York : St. Martin's Press ; Claremont : David Philip Publishers, 1996. - X, 186 p., [40] p. pl. : ill. ; Bibliogr.: p. [179]-183. - Met index, noten ISBN 0-312-16586-2 (New York). ISBN 0-86486-307-1 (Claremont)

Kevin Carroll in African art historical study / R.O. Rom Kalilu
In: African Notes: (1995), vol. 19, no. 1/2, p. 88-98

Rencontres artistiques Belgique - Congo, 1920-1950 / Patricia Van Schuylenbergh, Françoise Morimont. - Louvain-la-Neuve : Centre d'histoire de l'Afrique, 1995. - III, 110 p., [4] p. pl.  (Enquêtes et documents d'histoire africaine, ISSN 0772-6112 ; 12) Met noten

African art in transit / Christopher B. Steiner. - Cambridge [etc.] : Cambridge University Press, 1994. - XV, 220 p. : ill. Bew. van het proefschrift Harvard University, 1990. - Met lit. opg. en index ISBN 0-521-43447-5 ISBN 0-521-45752-1 pbk

African art : Virginia Museum of fine arts / by Richard B. Woodward. - Richmond, Va. : Office of Publications, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, cop. 1994. - 94 p. : foto's. ; Bibliogr.: p. 94. - Met index ISBN 0-917046-37-4

L'art africain contemporain / Pierre Gaudibert. - 2ème éd. rev. et corr. - Paris : Éditions cercle d'art, 1994. - 184 p. : ill.  (Diagonales, ISSN 0985-0619. Une collection des éditions cercle d'art) Oorspr. uitg.: 1991. - Bibliogr.: p. 160-174. - Met index ISBN 2-7022-0386-8

Keeping cultural objects 'in the picture' : traditional legal strategies / Christa Roodt
In: The Comparative and International Law Journal of Southern Africa: (1994), vol. 27, no. 3, p. 314-339
 

Painting

Inspiratiebron Afrika : schilderijen, foto's en verhalen uit Senegal en Gambia / [teksten, foto's en beeldmateriaal] Jan Mattheus de Grauw. - [Rotterdam : De Grauw], 2004. - 48 p. : ill. ISBN 90-808486-1-1

Kin moto na Bruxelles : Quand Kinshasa réchauffe Bruxelles = Als Kinshasa Brussel verwarmt : 06/05-14/09/2003, Hôtel de Ville de Bruxelles, Galerie Bortier / [textes: Célestin Badibanga ne Mwine ... et al.] ; vert. Wilfried Tersago. - Bruxelles : Echevinat de la Culture [etc.], 2003. - 240 p. : ill. foto's. Teksten in het Frans en Nederlands. - Tentoonstellingscatalogus. - Bibliogr.: p. 239. - Met noten, tentoonstellingslijst

Malangatana / ed. by Júlio Navarro ; transl. from the Portuguese by Harriet C. McGuire ... [et al.]. - Dar es Salaam : Mkuki na Nyota Publishers ; Lisbon : Editorial Caminho, 2003. - 223 p. : foto's. Met chronologie, index ISBN 9987-68645-1 (Dar es Salaam). ISBN 972-211223-6 (Lisbon)

Mami Wata la Sirène et les peintres populaires de Kinshasa / Lucie Touya ; préf. de Bogumil Jewsiewicki. - Paris [etc.] : L'Harmattan, cop. 2003. - 221 p., [8] p. pl. (Collection la bibliothèque d'Africultures) Bibliogr.: p. 211-219. - Met noten ISBN 2-7475-4472-9

Community mural art in South Africa / Sabine Marschall. - Pretoria : UNISA, cop. 2002. - 290 p. : foto's. Bibliogr.: p. 277-283. - Met index. ISBN 1-86888-188-1

The Nsukka artists and Nigerian contemporary art / ed. by Simon Ottenberg. - Washington [etc.] : Smithsonian National Museum of African Art [etc.], cop. 2002. - XVII, 330 p., [32] p. foto's. : foto's, ill. Met bibliogr., index, noten ISBN 0-295-98205-5

The I of the beholder : identity formation in the art and writing of Breyten Breytenbach / Marilet Sienaert. - Cape Town [etc.] : Kwela Books [etc.], cop. 2001. - 127 p., 8 p. pl. : ill.  (Social identities South Africa). Bibliogr.: p. [123]-127. - Met gloss., noten ISBN 0-7957-0141-1

Les peintures murales des femmes Kasséna du Burkina Faso / Jacques Pibot. - Paris [etc.] : L'Harmattan, cop. 2001. - 124 p. : ill.  (Les arts d'ailleurs) Bibliogr.: p. [123]-124 ISBN 2-7475-0865-X

La question de la figuration dans l'islam et la peinture sous verre sénégalaise / Abdou Sylla
In: Éthiopiques: (2001), no. 66/67, p. 97-122 : ill

"Paintings like prayers" : the hidden side of Senegalese reverse-glass "image/texts" / Allen F. Roberts and Mary Nooter Roberts
In: Research in African Literatures: (2000), vol. 31, no. 4, p. 76-96 : ill

A postcolonial reading of mural art in South Africa / Sabine Marschall
In: Critical Arts: (2000), vol. 14, no. 2, p. 96-121

A critical investigation into the impact of community mural art / Sabine Marschall
In: Transformation: (1999), no. 40, p. 55-86 : foto's

Peinture africaine / par Jacques Binet
In: Mondes et cultures: (1999), t. 59, no. 1/2, p. 37-48 : ill

Les tendances actuelles de la peinture congolaise moderne / Mabiala Mantuba-Ngoma
In: Annales aequatoria: (1999), vol. 20, p. 455-464

Concert parties : paintings and performance / by Michelle Gilbert
In: Journal of Religion in Africa: (1998), vol. 28, no. 1, p. 62-92 : ill

Making Zimbabwean landscapes : painters, projectors and priests / Terence Ranger
In: Paideuma / Frobenius-Institut: (1997), Bd. 43, p. 59-73 : ill., foto's

New traditions from Nigeria : seven artists of the Nsukka group / Simon Ottenberg. - Washington, D.C. [etc.] : Smithsonian Institution Press, cop. 1997. - XVII, 302 p. : ill.  Bibliogr.: p. 281-297. - Met index, noten ISBN 1-560-98800-2

Les pierrots du bidonville : peintres de 'matatu' à Nairobi, Kenya / François Grignon
In: Autrepart: (1997), no. 1, p. 151-160

La culture urbaine dans les arts populaires d'Afrique : analyse de l'ambiance zaïroise / T.K. Biaya
In: Canadian Journal of African Studies: (1996), vol. 30, no. 3, p. 345-370 : ill

La peinture monumentale en Algérie: un art pédagogique / François Pouillon
In: Cahiers d'études africaines: (1996), vol. 36, cah. 141/142, p. 183-213 : foto's

Remembering the present : painting and popular history in Zaire / Johannes Fabian ; [narrative and paintings by Tshibumba Kanda Matulu]. - Berkeley [etc.] : University of California Press, cop. 1996. - XV, 348 p., [16] p. pl. : ill. Met lit. opg. en index ISBN 0-520-20375-5 ISBN 0-520-20376-3 pbk

Cheri Samba : the hybridity of art = l'hybridité d'un art / Bogumil Jewsiewicki. - Westmount : Galerie Amrad African Art Publications, cop. 1995. - 102 p. : ill., foto's (Contemporary African artists series ; 1) Bibliogr.: p. 98-99 ISBN 1-89637-100-0

Images of Africa : the pictorial record / ed. by John Pinfold, Terry Barringer & Carole Holden. - London : SCOLMA, 1995. - 114 p. : foto's (African research and documentation, ISSN 0305-862X ; no. 68) Special issue. - Papers presented at the SCOLMA conference, London, 9-10 June 1994. - Met bibliogr ISBN 0-904090-07-8

Ecstatic renovation!': street art celebrating Sierra Leone's 1992 revolution / Joseph A. Opala
In: African Affairs: (1994), vol. 93, no. 371, p. 195-218 : ill

Irma Stern : the early years, 1894-1933 / Karel Schoeman. - Cape Town : South African Library, 1994. - 127 p. : ill., foto's.  (South African library ; no. 22. General series) Met chronologie, index, noten ISBN 0-86968-112-5

Senegal behind glass : images of religious and daily life / Anne-Marie Bouttiaux Ndiaye ; [transl. from the French by Martine Jawerbaum with Jill Craig]. - Munich [etc.] : Prestel Verlag [etc.], 1994. - 167 p. : ill.  (Annalen, ISSN 0065-4124 ; vol. 143 ; Reeks in-8º. Wetenschappen van de mens) Published on the occasion of the travelling exhibition 'Hinterglasmalerei aus dem Senegal' organized by the Royal Museum of Central Africa, Tervuren and first held at the Hamburgisches Museum für Völkerkunde, Hamburg (30 June-18 September 1994). - Lit.opg.: p. 166-167 ISBN 3-7913-1424-6
 

Sculpture

A closer look : local styles in the Yoruba art collection of the Afrika museum, Berg en Dal / Hans Witte ; photogr. Ferry Herrebrugh ; [transl. from the Dutch Kevin Cook]. - Berg en Dal : Afrika Museum, 2004. - 272 p. : ill., krt.  Met index, lit. opg ISBN 90-71611-16-7 geb.

Cameroun : art et architecture ; suivi de l'art de la sculpture / Henri Moussima Njanjo. - Paris [etc.] : L'Harmattan, 2003. - 60 p.  (Pages Africaines) Bibliogr.: p. [35]-36, [59]-60. - Met noten, samenvatting ISBN 2-7475-5359-0

Gender objectified: revealing bodies in Bamana sculpture / Kristina Van Dyke
In: Mande Studies: (2002), no. 4, p. 101-119 : foto's

Genocide serenade [video] / concept: Kofi Setordji & Maarten Rens ; dir. and camera: Maarten Rens ; poem: Evans Oma Hunter ; music: Della Borti & Emashie Cultural Group and members of Hewale Sound. - Amsterdam : Foundation AfricaServer [etc.], cop. 2002. - 1 videocassette [NTSC] (26 min.). : kleur, Engels gesproken. - Prod. for the Virtual Museum of Contemporary African Art

Les terres cuites de la discorde : déterrement et écoulement des terres cuites anthropomorphes du Mali : les réseaux locaux / Cristiana Panella. - Leiden : Research School of Asian, African, and Amerindian Studies, Universiteit Leiden, 2002. - 233 p., 30 p. pl., 9 p. krt. : ill., foto's, krt.  (CNWS publications, ISSN 0925-3084 ; no. 113) Ook verschenen als proefschrift Universiteit Leiden, 2002. - Met lit. opg ISBN 90-5789-074-7

Thoughts on who made the Jenné terra-cottas : gender, craft specialization, and Mande art history / Barbara E. Frank
In: Mande Studies: (2002), no. 4, p. 121-132

Art of the Lega / Elisabeth L. Cameron. - Los Angeles : UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, 2001. - 231 p. : foto's.  Bibliogr.: p. 229. - Met bijl., noten ISBN 0-930741-87-0
ISBN 0-930741-88-9 pbk

From ritual to modern art : tradition and modernity in Tanzanian sculpture / ed. Manfred Ewel, Anne Outwater. - Dar es Salaam : Mkuki na Nyota Publishers, cop. 2001. - 126 p. : ill., foto's, krt.  ISBN 9976-973-85-3

Goden, graven en grenzen : over kunstroof uit Afrika, Azië en Latijns-Amerika / Jos van Beurden ; [foto's: Jos van Beurden ... et al. ; tekstred.: Hansje Galesloot]. - Amsterdam [etc.] : KIT Publishers, cop. 2001. - 120 p. : ill. Met lit. opg ISBN 90-6832-2931

La Gwandusu : une forme de sculpture chez les Bamanan du Mali : (réponse à P.J. Imperato et à K. Ezra) = The Gwandusu : a gender of sculpture among the Bamanan in Mali : (a reply to P.J. Imperato and to K. Ezra) / Pascal Baba Couloubaly ; transl. into English by Abdoul Kader Touré. - Bamako : Jamana, cop. 2001. - 86 p. Bibliogr.: p. 81-86. - Met noten ISBN 2-910454-64-9

De la danse à la sculpture : un autre regard sur l'esthétique africaine : catalogue de l'exposition du 5 avril au 20 mai 2000 / Alphonse Tiérou ... [et al.]. - Paris : Musée de l'Homme, 2000. - 47 p. : foto's, krt. ISBN 2-85653-261-6

Another reconsideration of the origin of the Tsoede bronzes / Ohioma Ifounu Pogoson
In: West African Journal of Archaeology: (1998), vol. 28, no. 2, p. 97-111 : foto's, krt

The scramble for art in Central Africa / ed. by Enid Schildkrout and Curtis A. Keim. - Cambridge [etc.] : Cambridge University Press, cop. 1998. - XIII, 257 p. : ill. Bibliogr.: p. 236-251. - Met lit. opg., reg. ISBN 0-521-58349-7 geb. ISBN 0-521-58678-X pbk

The soapstone birds of Great Zimbabwe : symbols of a nation / Edward Matenga. - Harare : African Publishing Group, cop. 1998. - XVI, 88 p. : ill., foto's, krt.  Bibliogr.: p. 87-88. - Met bijl., noten ISBN 1-7790-1135-0

Djetó! fais attention! : le "chemin de la sculpture" chez les Lobi du Burkina Faso / Daniela Bognolo
In: Journal des africanistes: (1997), t. 67, fasc. 1, p. 123-133 : foto's

Gender tempered through metal : women in metal-casting in Benin City, Nigeria / Adepeju Layiwola
In: Writing African women : gender, popular culture and literature in West Africa / ed. by Stephanie Newell. - London [etc.] : Zed Books: (1997), p. 191-197

Rois et sculpteurs de l'Ouest Cameroun : la panthère et la mygale / Louis Perrois, Jean-Paul Notué. - Paris : Karthala ; Paris : Orstom, cop. 1997. - 388 p. : ill., foto's, krt. Bibliogr.: p. [345]-359. - Met gloss., indices ISBN 2-86537-744-X (Karthala). ISBN 2-7099-1361-5 (Orstom)

Tradition and modernity in Mozambican sculpture / Zofia Stanislawska
In: Africana Bulletin: (1997), no. 44, p. 63-75 : foto's

Created in their own image: a comment on Beta Israel figurines / Steven Kaplan & Chaim Rosen
In: Cahiers d'études africaines: (1996), vol. 36, cah. 141/142, p. 171-182 : foto's

Dreams and reverie : images of otherworld mates among the Baule, West Africa / Philip L. Ravenhill. - Washington, D.C. : Smithsonian Institution Press, cop. 1996. - XV, 102 p. : foto's. Bibliogr.: p. 99-102. - Met noten ISBN 1-560-98650-6

Nso' traditional sculpture : an interpretation of motifs / by Daniel Kanjo Musa. - repr. with minor corrections. - Kumbo : Musa Heritage Gallery, 1996. - V, 38 p., [1] bl. pl.  Oorspr. uitg.: 1988. - Bibliogr.: p. 38

L'art funéraire du Bas-Zaïre / par J.-A. Cornet
In: Bulletin des séances / Académie royale des sciences d'outre-mer: (1995), année 41, no. 2, p. 117-135 : foto's

"Ere ibeji" : beelden van tweelingen, in het bijzonder van de Yoruba van Nigeria / Jacques Vogelzang ; [fotogr. Ferry Herrebrugh]. - Berg en Dal : Afrika Museum, cop. 1994. - 64 p. : foto's, krt. ;  Catalogus van de gelijknamige tentoonstelling in het Afrika Museum te Berg en Dal. - Met lit. opg. en een samenvatting in het Engels ISBN 90-71611-05-1

La femme dans les arts luba du Zaïre / par F. Neyt
In: Bulletin des séances / Académie royale des sciences d'outre-mer: (1994), année 40, no. 3, p. 345-362 : foto's, krt

Life in stone : Zimbabwean sculpture : birth of a contemporary art form / Olivier Sultan ; with photogr. by Peter Fernandes. - repr., with rev. - Harare : Baobab Books, 1994. - 86 p. : foto's. Oorspr. uitg.: 1992. - Bibliogr.: p. 85. - Met noten ISBN 0-90831171-0

Shona sculpture versus airport art, battles in the marketplace / by Jonathan Zilberg. - Toronto : [African Studies Association], 1994. - 14 p. No. 1994:193. - Presented at the thirty-seventh annual meeting of the African Studies Association, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, November 3-6, 1994. - Bibliogr.: p. 13-14. - Met noten
 

Periodicals on African Art

African arts : a quarterly devoted to the graphic, plastic, performing, and literary arts of Africa = Arts d'Afrique : une revue trimestrielle consacrée aux arts graphiques, plastiques, littéraires, et de spectacles de l'Afrique. - Vol. 1 (1967) - .... - Los Angeles, CA : University of California, African Studies Center, 1967-.... Ook verschenen in elektronische vorm. - Verschijnt 1x per kwartaal. - Met afz. meerjarenregisters ISSN 0001-9933

Glendora Review : African quarterly on the arts / editor in chief: Dapo Adeniyi. - Vol. 1 (1998) - .... - Lagos : Glendora International, 1995 -.... Verschijnt 1 x per 3 maanden. - Met suppl.: Glendora book supplement ISSN 1118-146X

Nka : journal of contemporary African art. - Vol. 1 (1994)-.... - Ithaca, NY : Cornell University, 1994-.... - ill. Verschijnt 2x per jaar ISSN 1075-7163

Revue noire : African contemporary art = Art contemporain africain. - No. 1 (1991) - no. 33/34 (2000). - Paris : Éditions Revue Noire, 1991-2000. - ill.  Formaat varieert. - Verschijnt 4× per jaar. - Tekst in het Engels en Frans ISSN 1157-4127
 

Selected Web Resources

The ASC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

African art on the Internet
Comprehensive guide to Internet resources on African art, prepared by Karen Fung (Stanford University) for the Information and Communication Technology Group (ICTG), African Studies Association, USA
https://library.stanford.edu/africa-south-sahara/browse-topic/art

Art and Archaeology of Africa
Collection of Internet resources maintained by Joseph Caruso, Columbia University
https://library.columbia.edu/locations/global/virtual-libraries/african_studies/art.html

Modern African Art: a basic reading list
Compiled by Janet L. Stanley, National Museum of African Art Library, Smithsonian Institution Libraries. Last update: April 2003
https://www.sil.si.edu/SILPublications/ModernAfricanArt/modern-african-art.htm

H-Afrarts
Discussion list and a WWW site, cosponsored by Humanities and Social Sciences OnLine (H-Net) and the Arts Council of the African Studies Association (ACASA). Its content focuses on the expressive cultures of Africa and the African Diaspora
http://www.h-net.org/~artsweb/

Ijele: Art eJournal of the African world
Online journal of contemporary art and architecture, art history and criticism, focusing exclusively on the visual creative expressions of artists in Africa and other regions of the world. (subscribed access)
https://www.ijele.com/