The Art of Africa
These decorated aprons were gifts from the groom’s family to his wife, and signified her new role in society.
Married Woman’s Apron (itjogolo or ijogolo), Ndebele ...
These elaborate ear pendants and headdress were worn by Jewish or Berber women in modern-day Morocco
Amazigh (Berber) jewelry
Bottle tops refer to the literal economic exchange of liquor for human beings in the past while also pointing to contemporary issues such as waste and sustainability
El Anatsui, Lines That Link Humanity
Did you know that Ethiopia has one of the longest standing traditions of Christian practice in the world?
Gospel Book
Getty Conversations
The bronzes from Igbo-Ukwu have intricate designs and symbolism, and demonstrate technical virtuosity.
Igbo-Ukwu
Arts of adornment, like the thethana, have the amazing ability to function as signifiers of social belonging and individual status.
Thethana, South Sotho artist
Paa Joe created large-scale, painted wood sculptures that represent architectural models of Gold Coast castles and forts, which served as way stations for more than six million Africans sold into slavery and sent to the Americas and the Caribbean between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Paa Joe: Gates of No Return
This large sculpture was made for Mami Wata, pidgin English for “Mother of Water," a charismatic being of great spiritual power celebrated in West and Central Africa and reimagined as deities such as La Sirene (Haitian Vodou) and Yemanjá (Candomblé and Umbanda) in Afro-Atlantic spiritual traditions.
“Mami Wata” figure, Igbo artist
Curator Gus Casely-Hayford looks at the origins and history of the Asafo flags, made by the Fante people of the Gold Coast of Africa, now known as Ghana.
Gus Casely-Hayford on Fante Asafo Flags | ...
This exceptional mask has a solid wooden core carved with two similar faces in opposing directions, often referred to as a Janus face.
Janus-Faced Headdress (Ejagham or Bale peoples)
These carved wooden figures have human faces but animal attributes, and reflected the achievements of their owners.
Ikenga (Igbo peoples)
Odundo's pottery draws on traditions from around the world and reveals the relationship of clay to the body
Magdalene Anyango N. Odundo, Symmetrical Reduced Black ...
The Koutammakou landscape in north-eastern Togo, which extends into neighboring Benin, is home to the Batammariba with their remarkable mud tower-houses
Mud tower-houses (takienta), Koutammakou region
This spectacular natural site contains many caves and rock-shelters with the largest and most concentrated group of paintings in Africa south of the Sahara.
uKhahlamba Drakensberg rock paintings (San)
Timbuktu was an intellectual and spiritual capital and a center for the propagation of Islam throughout Africa in the 15th and 16th centuries
Timbuktu
This tomb bears testimony to the power and riches of the empire that flourished in the 15th and 16th centuries through its control of the trans-Saharan trade, notably in salt and gold
Tomb of Askia
The church, baptistry, basilicas, public buildings, streets, monasteries, houses and workshops in this early Christian holy city were built over the tomb of the martyr Menas of Alexandria, who died in 296 C.E
Abu Mena
The site consists of four large groups of stone circles that represent an extraordinary concentration of over 1,000 monuments
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