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Hey guys! Sorry I have been SUPER M.I.A.! Thanks to everyone who checked up on me to make sure I wasn’t dead lol (S/O to Tasia and Lali) Between the Wi-Fi going in and out and trying to get over this cold, I just haven’t gotten around to blogging as often as I should. However, I am back and will be spending the next 24-48 hours catching you guys up. Last week was all about African Art and how the world sees it, how we see it and how everyone SHOULD view and interpret it. So this post and the next post will be all about African art and influences then and influences now. First we should start by asking , what is African art? Some would explain it as masks and ancient tools and some would say it is just another term to “other” African people and belittle the work and craftsmanship they do. When looking at art holistically, it is something you find in the more western traditions and can be traced back generations as a decider of wealth and prominence. It is also something that is to be sold, speculated and appreciated and can be categorized as a symbol of class. In Africa, however, art is a somewhat foreign concept. More traditional African “art” would be originally used as tools or for religious reasons, but not on the line of being a subject for extracurricular. Art and the idea of art is a part of a more capitalist structured system where you create something and receive money for it. When speaking of art that originates from Africa you have to look at it from three different periods of time, in which aren’t necessarily stagnant and separate but a continuous spectrum into one another.
During colonization many missionaries went to different ethnic groups and would destroy their art because they would classify it as paganism. It wasn’t until artists, like Picasso (who attributes the entire aesthetic of cubism to the Gabo people) and Batista, started recognizing African art or Negro art and introducing their aesthetics and techniques into European museums. But again, what is African art? There are two answers to this question depending on one’s point of view on life as whole and the sacredness of one’s experiences. On one hand, the term African, Black or Negro art sounds absurd. There’s no such thing as yellow or white art, so why is it necessary to categorize an entire culture with a color? Art is art. However, on the other hand many African and African-American artists use their triumphs and struggles (past and present) in their artwork which one could argue makes it distinctly African or African American. I argue that both Africans and African Americans have some sort of obligation to their people to use their platform to bring awareness to the things going on within and against their community. Well in the case of many African artists, they focus the aspect of art just being art.
The audience that many artists are creating for is the more European or Western audience. The idea of museums are a more western and foreign concept and so when creating art they are making it with a more colonial and western lens. They tend to focus on more broad spectrums and ideals that relate too present and future issues and ideas. We saw a lot of examples at the Dakar Biennale. When we attended the Biennale I was in awe by all of the artwork and the contemporary ideals they represented. Although art is something that is fundamentally western and capitalistic, the African artist represented at the museum really took art into their own paradigm. For example, the exhibit with all of the mirrors and cameras spoke to all of the issues people deal with when it comes to self-image, self-love and self-acceptance. There was an also a component the artist incorporated which were these statues (that were human like) wrapped in foil, and I took it as we all are wrapped up and consumed by our image and what others think and see. I thought the exhibit was very contemporary and spoke volume to the present time that we live in, where everyone is obsessed with the number of likes, followers, friends and views one has.
Art and display of art is something that is increasingly becoming more popular and introduced to children at a younger age. When entering the Biennale center, we saw a room specifically dedicated to children and educating them on art and teaching the different ways to express themselves.
I was very impressed and although there were exhibits that told the traditional African or African American narrative
, it was refreshing to see our artists be incorporated in more main stream and contemporary ideals, and I changed my perspective, feeling that every African or African American artist had to express pain or struggle in some way, shape or form. The expression of contemporary art in a different way can be found on my next blog post. *Hint, I really love this art form* Check below to see the #OOTD aka Outfit of This Day
Pants and Shirt (H&M) Keep reading and keep watch for my next post!