Scholars of African art base suppositions about earlier art mainly on art of the last two centuries, but they can only guess at the earlier traditions from which the recent art developed. African art does not constitute a single tradition. Africa is an enormous continent with hundreds of cultures that have their own languages, religious beliefs, political systems, and ways of doing things. Each culture produces its own distinctive art and architecture, with variations in materials, intentions, and results. Whereas some cultures excel in carving wood, others are known for casting objects in metal. In one culture a decorated pot might be used for cooling water, while in another culture a similar pot is used in ritual ceremonies. The major types of art produced in Africa are masks, statues, furniture, textiles, pottery, baskets, beadwork, and metalwork. Most objects that are sculpted or shaped-masks and statues, for example-are created chiefly by men and depict human or animal forms. Where two-dimensional art exists, as in textile design or painted decoration on houses, it is generally produced by women. African art, unlike most European art, generally serves a function. The art may satisfy an everyday household need, adorn the body, or fulfill a social or religious role.
These objects of use also have artistic value because skilled artisans have designed and created them with a strong concern for visual beauty and symbolic meaning. Art objects that serve basic household needs include baskets, water vessels, eating utensils, carved headrests, and stools. Ritual objects include masks used in ceremonies and statues that commemorate and guard the remains of important ancestors. Personal adornment may take the form of decorative body scars, jewelry, or staffs and other objects that identify a person's social status. African art objects rarely serve only one purpose. A piece of jewelry, for example, may adorn the body, indicate prestige, and at the same time be the focal point of a ritual that protects the wearer from negative forces. African cultures design many utilitarian objects-such as furniture, dishes, and utensils-with decorative schemes in mind. Among the most common decorative objects made for everyday use in Africa are baskets, handmade pottery, carved wooden vessels, eating utensils, stools, and headrests. A1Baskets, Pottery, and Utensils Baskets, which serve as useful containers for carrying and storing goods, can be woven or coiled from a number of materials that come from plants. These include sisal from the agave plant, bark, grass, raffia from palm fibers, and reeds. Woven baskets, most often made by men, can hold clothing and personal items such as medicines or makeup. Women usually make baskets by the coil method-winding fibers into coils and then binding the coils together with additional strips of fiber.
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