The Art of Africa

Discover the diverse arts of Africa from select cultures and time periods on the world’s second largest continent.

Seated Figure, terracotta, 13th century, Mali, Inland Niger Delta region, Djenné peoples, 25/4 x 29.9 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — […]

Lost History: the terracotta sculpture of Djenne ...

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Kente cloth

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Origins of rock art in Africa

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Christian Ethiopian art

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African art and the effects of European ...

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The Reception of African Art in the ...

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Ere Ibeji Figures (Yoruba peoples)

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Akua’ba Female Figure (Akan peoples)

Map of North Africa — […]

About North Africa

Map of Southern Africa — […]

About Southern Africa

Map of Central Africa — […]

About Central Africa

Map of West Africa — […]

About West Africa

Map of East Africa — […]

East Africa

Figure from a Reliquary Ensemble: Seated Female, 19th–early 20th century, Fang peoples, Okak group, Gabon or Equatorial Guinea, wood, metal, 64 x 20 x 16.5 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — […]

Western appreciation of African art

One figure from a Pair of Diviner's Figures, Côte d'Ivoire, central Côte d'Ivoire, Baule peoples, wood, pigment, beads and iron, 55.4 x 10.2 x 10.5 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — […]

Art and the individual

Headdress, 19th–20th century, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Yaka peoples, wood, cane, raffia, pigment, 45.1 x 61 x 54.6 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — […]

Rites of passage

Head of an Oba, Nigeria, Court of Benin, 16th century, brass, 23.5 x 21.9 c 22.9 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — […]

Art and politics

Dogon Couple, 18th-early 19th century (Dogon peoples), Mali, wood and metal, 73 x 23.7 (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — […]

Religion and the Spiritual Realm

Magdalene Odundo, Untitled (Vessel), 1997, red clay, 50.2 x 33 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — […]

Magdalene Odundo, Untitled (Vessel)

Seydou Keïta, Untitled [Seated Woman with Chevron Print Dress], 1956, printed 1997, Mali, Bamako, gelatin silver print, 60.96 x 50.8 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — […]

Seydou Keïta, Untitled [Seated Woman with Chevron ...

Illuminated Gospel, Amhara peoples, Ethiopia, late 14th–early 15th century, parchment (vellum), wood (acacia), tempera and ink, 41.9 x 28.6 x 10.2 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — […]

Illuminated Gospel

Married Woman's Apron (Ijogolo), 19th-20th century, South Africa, Ndebele peoples, leather, beads and thread, 75.6 x 67.3cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — […]

Married Woman’s Apron (Ndebele peoples)

Figurative Harp (Domu), 19th–20th century, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mangbetu peoples, wood and hide, 52.1 x 48.3 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — […]

Figurative Harp (Domu) (Mangbetu peoples)

Buli Master, possibly Ngongo ya Chintu, Prestige Stool: Female Caryatid, 19th century, Luba or Hemba peoples, Buli village, Democratic Republic of the Congo, wood, metal studs, 61 cm high (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — […]

Buli Master, possibly Ngongo ya Chintu, Prestige ...

Double Prestige Panel, 19th-20th century, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sankuru River region, Kuba people, raffia palm fiber, 51.4 x 116.2 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — […]

Double Prestige Panel (Kuba peoples)

Detail, Crucifix, 16th-17th century, Democratic Republic of the Congo; Angola; Republic of the Congo, solid cast brass, 27.3 cm high (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — […]

Crucifix (Kongo peoples)

Figure from a Reliquary Ensemble: Seated Female, 19th–early 20th century, Fang peoples, Okak group, Gabon or Equatorial Guinea, wood, metal, 64 x 20 x 16.5 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — […]

Female Figure from a Reliquary Ensemble (Fang ...

Ceremonial Palm Wine Vessel, 19th–20th century, Grassfields region, Cameroon, gourd, glass beads, cloth, cane, wood, 76.2 x 30.8 x 19.7 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — […]

Ceremonial Palm Wine Vessel (Cameroon Grasslands peoples)

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Linguist Staff (Okyeamepoma) (Asante peoples)

Queen Mother Pendant Mask (Iyoba), 16th century, Edo peoples, Court of Benin, Nigeria, ivory, iron, copper, 23.8 x 12.7 x 8.3 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — […]

Queen Mother Pendant Mask (Iyoba) (Edo peoples)

Detail, Buffalo (Bocio), 19th century, Republic of Benin, Fon people, silver, iron, and wood, 30.5 cm high (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — […]

Buffalo (Bocio) (Fon peoples)

Memorial Head (Ntiri), 17th century (?), Ghana, Adanse traditional area, Fomena, Akan people, 31.3 x 19 x 14.5 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — […]

Memorial Head (Akan peoples)

Head of an Oba, Nigeria, Court of Benin, 16th century, brass, 23.5 x 21.9 c 22.9 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — […]

Form and meaning

Helmet Mask (Gelede), 20th century, Nigeria or Republic of Benin, Yoruba people, Ketu group, wood, 57.2 x 38.7 x 45.7 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — […]

The human figure, animals and symbols

Kòmò Helmet Mask (Kòmòkun), 19th–mid-20th century, Guinea or Mali or Burkina Faso or Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa, Komo or Koma Power Association, Wood, bird skull, porcupine quills, horns, cotton, sacrificial materials, 35.2 x 22.1 x 85.6 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — […]

Aesthetics

Conical Tower, Great Zimbabwe (photo: Mandy, CC BY 2.0) — […]

Great Zimbabwe

Detail, Pair of Diviner's Figures, Côte d'Ivoire, central Côte d'Ivoire, Baule peoples, wood, pigment, beads and iron, 55.4 x 10.2 x 10.5 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — […]

Pair of Diviner’s Figures (Baule peoples)

Detail, Zlan of Belewale, Ceremonial Ladle (Wakemia or Wunkirmian), Libera, Dan peoples, before 1960, wood, fiber, metal, and pigment, 13.3 × 58.4 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — […]

Ceremonial Ladle (Dan peoples)

Detail, Helmet Mask, 19th-20th century, Sierra Leone, Moyamba region, Mende or Sherbro peoples, wood, metal, 47.9 x 22.2 x 23.5cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — […]

Helmet Mask

Detail, Headdress: Female Bust (D'mba), 19th-20th century, Guinea, Niger River region, Baga peoples, wood, 181.1 x 35.3 x 67.5 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — […]

Headdress: Female Bust (D’mba)

Detail, Lidded Saltcellar, Sierra Leone, Sapi-Portugese, 15th-16th century, ivory, 29.8 cm high (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — […]

Lidded Saltcellar

Mask (Nwantantay), Burkina Faso, Black Volta River region, Bwa peoples. 19th–20th century, wood, pigment, and fiber, 182.9 x 28.2 x 26 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — […]

Mask (Nwantantay) (Bwa peoples)

Kòmò Helmet Mask (Kòmòkun), 19th–mid-20th century, Guinea or Mali or Burkina Faso or Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa, Komo or Koma Power Association, Wood, bird skull, porcupine quills, horns, cotton, sacrificial materials, 35.2 x 22.1 x 85.6 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — […]

Kòmò Helmet Mask (Kòmòkunw) (Bamana peoples)

Cotton hammock, early 20th century, Vai people, cotton, 213 x 125 cm, Sierra Leone © Trustees of the British Museum — […]

Cotton hammock (Vai peoples)

Gold coin, c. 270-300 C.E., gold, Aksumite, modern Ethiopia © Trustees of the British Museum. Obverse showing head and shoulders bust of King Endubis facing right, wearing headcloth with rays at forehead and triangular ribbon behind, framed by two wheat-stalks. Disc and crescent at top. — […]

Aksumite Coins

Pyxis, 5th century, ivory with the base restored in wood, 11.3 cm in diameter, Alexandria, Egypt © Trustees of the British Museum — […]

The kingdom of Aksum

Headdress: Male Antelope (Ci Wara), 19th–20th century Mali, Bamako region, Bamana, wood, metal bands, 71.1 cm high (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — […]

Male and Female Antelope Headdresses (Ci wara) ...

Mask (Kanaga), Mali, Dogon peoples, 20th century, wood, fiber, hide, pigment, 53.6 x 97.2 x 15.9 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — […]

Mask (Kanaga) (Dogon peoples)

Hunefer's Judgement in the presence of Osiris, Book of the Dead of Hunefer, 19th Dynasty, New Kingdom, c. 1275 B.C.E., papyrus, Thebes, Egypt (British Museum) — […]

Ancient Egypt

Kairouan — […]

Kairouan (from UNESCO)

Great Mosque of Kairouan prayer hall facade (photo: Damian Entwistle, CC BY-SA 2.0) — […]

The Great Mosque of Kairouan

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Rock-Art Sites of Tadrart Acacus

Running Horned Woman, 6,000-4,000 B.C.E., pigment on rock, Tassili n’Ajjer, Algeria — […]

Running Horned Woman, Tassili n’Ajjer, Algeria

Painted rock art depicting five red figures, from Jabbaren, Ajjer Plateau, Djanet, Tassili, Algeria. 2013,2034.4248 © TARA/David Coulson — […]

Rock Art in North Africa

Seated Figure, terracotta, 13th century, Mali, Inland Niger Delta region, Djenné peoples, 25/4 x 29.9 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — […]

Seated Figure (Djenné peoples)

Plaque: Equestrian Oba and Attendants, 1550-1680, Nigeria, Court of Benin, Edo peoples, brass, 49.5 x 41.9 x 11.4 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — […]

Historical overview: from the 1600s to the ...

Detail, Linguist Staff (Okyeame), 19th-early 20th century, Ghana, Akan peoples, Asante, gold foil, wood, nails, 156.5 x 14.6 x 5.7 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — […]

Historical overview: to the 1500s

Google earth view of Africa, © Google — […]

Peoples and cultures

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Ife uncovered

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Kingdom of Ife: Sculptures from West Africa

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Benin and the Portuguese

Dogon Couple, 18th-early 19th century (Dogon peoples), Mali, wood and metal, 73 x 23.7 (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — […]

Dogon Couple (Dogon peoples)

Stone head (mahe yafei), 16th - 18th century, Kisi people, steatite or soapstone, 24 x 10 x 17.5 cm, Sierra Leone © Trustees of the British Museum — […]

Stone Head (mahe yafei), Kisi peoples

Brass plaque showing the Oba of Benin with attendants, 16th century, 51 x 37 cm, Edo peoples, Benin, Nigeria © Trustees of the British Museum — […]

The Kingdom of Benin

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Owie Kimou, Portrait Mask (Mblo) of Moya ...

Uche Okeke, Owls, From the Oja Suite, 1962, ink on paper © The Estate of Uche Okeke (Newark Museum) — […]

Uche Okeke

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Kilwa Kisiwani, Tanzania

Plaque: Equestrian Oba and Attendants (detail) — […]

Benin plaque: Equestrian Oba and Attendants

Lukasa (memory board), Mbudye Society, Luba peoples (Democratic Republic of Congo, c. 19th to 20th century, wood, beads and metal — […]

Lukasa (Memory Board) (Luba peoples)

Apollo 11 Cave Stones, Namibia, quartzite, c. 25,500–25,300 B.C.E. Image courtesy of State Museum of Namibia. — […]

Apollo 11 Cave Stones

El Anatsui, Untitled (detail) — […]

El Anatsui, Untitled

Helmet Mask for Sande Society (detail) — […]

Bundu / Sowei Helmet Mask (Mende peoples)

Ikenga (detail) — […]

Ikenga (Igbo peoples)

Elephant (Aka) Mask (detail) — […]

Elephant Mask (Bamileke Peoples)

Pwo mask (detail) — […]

Female (pwo) Mask

Sika dwa kofi (Golden Stool) (detail) — […]

Golden Stool (Sika dwa kofi), Asante peoples

Veranda post (detail) — […]

Olowe of Ise, veranda post (Yoruba peoples)

Reliquary Guardian Figure (detail) — […]

Female Reliquary Guardian Figure (Fang peoples)—video

Ndop Portrait of King Mishe miShyaang maMbul (detail) — […]

Ndop Portrait of King Mishe miShyaang maMbul ...

Power figure (Nkisi n’kondi) (detail) — […]

Power Figure (Nkisi Nkondi), Kongo peoples

Great Mosque of Djenné, Mali — […]

Great Mosque of Djenné (Djenné peoples)

Julie Mehretu, Stadia II, 2004, ink and acrylic on canvas, 108 x 144" (Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh) (© Julie Mehretu) — […]

Julie Mehretu, Stadia II

El Anatsui, Old Man’s Cloth (detail) — […]

El Anatsui, Old Man’s Cloth

William Kentridge, Drawing from Tide Table (Soho in Deck Chair), 2003, charcoal on paper, 81.28 x 121.92 cm (courtesy Marian Goodman Gallery, NYC, © William Kentridge) — […]

William Kentridge, drawing from Tide Table (Soho ...

Yinka Shonibare MBE, The Swing (After Fragonard), 2001 (Tate, London) © Yinka Shonibare — […]

Yinka Shonibare, The Swing (After Fragonard)