The Art of Africa

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

Kota reliquary figure (mbulu ngulu), late 19th to early 20th century, Gabon, wood, copper, brass, and bone, 59.69 cm high (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) — Keeping your loved ones close: a Kota reliquary figure

Kota reliquary (mbulu ngulu)

Detail of Oba, Benin plaque, MFA, Boston — How to impress your courtiers: a lesson from the Kingdom of Benin

Benin Plaques

About West Africa — Learn about the geography of West Africa!

About West Africa

Benin ivory mask, HENI talks — This mask depicts the king’s mother, whose ruthless political prowess ensured that her son became king.

Benin ivory mask (Edo peoples)

Asafo flags - HENI talks — These flags were made for military companies affiliated with the British along the coast of present-day Ghana.

Asafo Flags: Stitches Through Time

Seated Figure, terracotta, 13th century, Mali, Inland Niger Delta region, Djenné peoples, 25/4 x 29.9 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — Are these little-understood figures representations of diseased people, or an attempt to ward off illness?

Lost History: the terracotta sculpture of Djenne ...

This cloth—first woven by a wise spider—sends social messages through a system of specific patterns.

Kente cloth

Origins of rock art in Africa — What do the moon landing and rock art have in common?

Origins of rock art in Africa

Christian Ethiopian art — Ethiopia’s Christian heritage predates much of Europe’s, and includes churches hewn from living rock.

Christian Ethiopian art

Arts practices on the African continent have evolved both independently of and in response to European imperialism.

African art and the effects of European ...

Initially, Westerners saw African art as a mere “curiosity,” but this began to change with the advent of modernism.

The Reception of African Art in the ...

The high rate of twining among the Yoruba peoples gave birth to a genre of spiritual objects for mourning parents.

Ere Ibeji Figures (Yoruba peoples)

Akua’ba Female Figure (Akan peoples) — These figures were carved for Akan women unable to conceive—they’d ritually feed, carry, and care for them.

Akua’ba Female Figure (Akan peoples)

Map of North Africa — Learn about the geography of North Africa.

About North Africa

Map of Southern Africa — Learn about the geography of Southern Africa.

About Southern Africa

Map of Central Africa — Learn about the geography of Central Africa.

About Central Africa

Map of East Africa — Learn about the geography of East Africa.

About 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) — What kinds of cultural biases have shaped African collections in Western museums?

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) — The artistic enhancement of functional objects can reflect and reinforce an individual’s social status.

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) — In transitional periods, art objects are often employed to assist rites of passage and reinforce community values.

Rites of passage