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Art of Africa

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A beginner's guide
Peoples and cultures
Historical overview: to 1600
Historical overview: from the 1600s to the present
Aesthetics
The human figure, animals and symbols
Form and meaning
Religion and the spiritual realm
Art and politics
Rites of passage
Art and the individual
African art and the effects of European contact and colonization
The Reception of African Art in the West
Western appreciation of African art
East Africa and the Horn of Africa
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About East Africa
Ethiopia
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Aksum
The kingdom of Aksum
City of Aksum
Aksumite Coins
Christian Ethiopian art
An Ethiopian icon
Gospel Book
Getty Conversations
Illuminated Gospel
Sheila Hicks on The Harp of Praise by Ethiopian scribe Baselyos
Julie Mehretu, Stadia II
Tanzania
Kilwa Kisiwani
Kilwa pot sherds
Kenya
Magdalene Anyango N. Odundo, Symmetrical Reduced Black Narrow-Necked Tall Piece
Magdalene Anyango N. Odundo, Untitled (Vessel)
West Africa
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About West Africa
Beginner's guide
Spoons from West Africa in Renaissance Lisbon
Burkina Faso
Ruins of Loropéni
Mask (Bwa peoples)
Ghana
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Golden Stool (Sika dwa kofi), Asante Peoples
Linguist Staff (Asante peoples)
Kente cloth (Asante and Ewe peoples)
Memorial Head (Akan peoples)
Akua’ba Female Figure (Akan peoples)
Asafo Flags: Stitches Through Time
Gus Casely-Hayford on Fante Asafo Flags | Artist & Empire
El Anatsui
Untitled
Old Man’s Cloth
Paa Joe, Coffin the Shape of a Nike Sneaker
Paa Joe: Gates of No Return
Coffin in the shape of an eagle
Guinea
Headdress: Female Bust (D'mba) (Baga peoples)
Ivory Coast
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Owie Kimou, Portrait Mask (Mblo) of Moya Yanso (Baule peoples)
Pair of Diviner’s Figures (Baule peoples)
Male and Female Poro altar figures (Senufo peoples)
Mali
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Saving Timbuktu’s manuscripts
Timbuktu
Djenné
Seated Figure (Djenné peoples)
The terracotta sculpture of Djenné-Djenno
Great Mosque of Djenné
Tomb of Askia
Dogon peoples
Couple (Dogon peoples)
Mask (Dogon peoples)
Male and Female Antelope Headdresses (Dogon peoples)
Ritual Container (Dogon peoples)
Bamana peoples
Kòmò Helmet Mask (Bamana peoples)
Mother and Child & Seated Male with Lance (Bamana peoples)
Photography
Seydou Keïta, Untitled (Seated Woman with Chevron Print Dress)
Malick Sidibé, Nuit de Noël (Happy Couple)
Nigeria
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Igbo-Ukwu
Igbo-Ukwu, an overview
Ife
Kingdom of Ife: sculptures from West Africa
Head of a ruler, Ife
Ife uncovered
The Kingdom of Benin
The Kingdom of Benin
Benin Art: Patrons, Artists and Current Controversies
Benin Plaques
The Imagery of Power on Benin Bronze Plaques
Benin and the Portuguese
Benin Queen Mother Pendant Mask (Edo peoples)
Benin Ivory Mask (Edo peoples)
Benin plaque: Equestrian Oba and Attendants
Yoruba peoples
Ere Ibeji Figures (Yoruba peoples), an introduction
Shrine (Iphri) (Western Ijo peoples)
Olowe of Ise
Veranda Post (Yoruba peoples)
Veranda Post of Enthroned King and Senior Wife
Male Figure, Ikenga
Janus-Faced Headdress (Ejagham or Bale peoples)
“Mami Wata” figure, Igbo artist
Uche Okeke
Yinka Shonibare, The Swing (After Fragonard)
Republic of Benin
Buffalo figure (Fon peoples)
Bocio (Fon peoples)
Royal palaces of Abomey
Fagbite Asamu of Idahin and Falola Edun, Helmet Mask (Gelede)
Sierra Leone
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Lidded Saltcellar (Sapi peoples)
Stone head (Kisi peoples)
Helmet Mask (Mende peoples)
Cotton Hammock (Vai peoples)
Ceremonial Ladle (Dan peoples)
Senegal
Stone circles of Senegambia
Togo
Mud tower-houses (takienta), Koutammakou region
Central Africa
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About Central Africa
Cameroon
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Palm Wine Vessel
Elephant Mask
Pageantry in the Palace—Bamum Kingdom, Cameroon
Figure of a Chief (Lefem) (Bangwa)
Democratic Republic of the Congo
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Crucifix
Female Mask (Chokwe peoples)
Kongo peoples
Power Figure (Kongo peoples)
Seated Figure (Tumba) (Kongo peoples)
Kuba peoples
Portrait of King Mishe miShyaang maMbul (Kuba peoples)
Double Prestige Panel (Kuba peoples)
Lukasa (Memory Board) (Luba peoples)
Buli Master, Prestige Stool: Female Caryatid (Luba or Hemba peoples)
Figurative Harp (Mangbetu peoples)
Headdress (Yaka peoples)
Angola
Chair or throne (Chokwe peoples)
Gabon
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Kota reliquary (mbulu ngulu)
Female Reliquary Figure (Fang peoples)
Male Reliquary Figure (Fang peoples)—video
Punu-Lumbo mask, from Gabon
North Africa
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About North Africa
Algeria and Libya
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Rock Art in North Africa
Rock Art in the Green Sahara (Africa)
Running Horned Woman, Tassili n’Ajjer
Rock-Art Sites of Tadrart Acacus
Ancient Sabratha
Al Qal’a of Beni Hammad (mosque)
Egypt
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Ancient Egypt
Coptic period (3rd–7th century C.E.)
Byzantine Egypt and the Coptic period, an introduction
Silk panel
Glass dish
Abu Mena
Sudan
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Ancient Nubia and the Kingdom of Kush, an introduction
King Piye and the Kushite control of Egypt
Meroitic period of the Kingdom of Kush
Head of Augustus at Meroë
Medieval Nubian Kingdoms, an introduction
Tunisia
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The Great Mosque of Kairouan
Kairouan (from UNESCO)
Morocco
Amazigh (Berber) jewelry
Southern Africa
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About Southern Africa
Namibia
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Origins of rock art in Africa
Apollo 11 Cave Stones
South Africa
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uKhahlamba Drakensberg rock paintings (San)
Married Woman’s Apron (Ndebele peoples)
Thethana, South Sotho artist
William Kentridge, drawing from Tide Table (Soho in Deck Chair)
Zimbabwe
Great Zimbabwe
Madagascar
Martin Rakotoarimanana, Mantle (Lamba Mpanjaka)
Silk textile (lamba akotofahana), Merina peoples

Kilwa Kisiwani, Tanzania

by Steven Zucker, World Monuments Fund and Stephen Battle

A conversation with Stephen Battle, World Monuments Fund and Steven Zucker, Smarthistory about the history and architecture of Kilwa Kisiwani, Tanzania

Cite this page as: Steven Zucker, World Monuments Fund and Stephen Battle, "Kilwa Kisiwani, Tanzania," in Smarthistory, February 5, 2016, accessed January 28, 2023, https://smarthistory.org/kilwa-kisiwani-tanzania/.

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