The Art of Africa

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

algiers mosque — The mosque, whose prayer room has 13 aisles with eight bays, is one of the largest in Algeria.

Al Qal’a of Beni Hammad (mosque)(UNESCO/NHK)

by UNESCO

madagascar grid — The lamba (generic name for cloth in Madagascar) is worn as a shawl for everyday wear, but the Merina peoples of Central Madagascar also use it as a shroud in which to wrap the dead during burial ceremonies.

Silk textile (lamba akotofahana), Merina peoples

by The British Museum

This brass head clearly portrays a person of status and authority, possibly a king (ooni) of Ife

Head of a ruler, Ife

by The British Museum

El Anatsui, Old Man’s Cloth, 2003, aluminum and copper wire, 16' x 17' 1" / 487.7 x 520.7 cm (Harn Museum of Art, Gainesville, FL) — From a live Smarthistory webinar: Dr. Allison Young, Teaching El Anatsui & "Global Contemporary" Art

From a live Smarthistory webinar: Dr. Allison ...

by Dr. Allison Young

Twin figures known as Ère Ìbejì reveal how a Yorùbá mother navigates the loss of twins

Yorùbá artist, pair of twin figures (Ère ...

by Dr. Peri Klemm and Dr. Steven Zucker

sneaker grid — Ghanaian coffins are famous for their creative shapes

Paa Joe, Coffin the Shape of a ...

by Dr. Peri Klemm and Dr. Steven Zucker

Vibrant annual ngoun celebrations involve masks used in gatherings in the Bamun Kingdom, Camerooon

Pageantry in the Palace—Bamum Kingdom, Cameroon
by Fowler Museum at UCLA

Beautiful glass was popular from ancient Egypt into the Coptic period

Glass dish, Coptic
by The British Museum

In the course of the fourth and fifth centuries C.E., Christians transformed the architectural landscape of pharaonic Egypt by building monumental churches, martyrs’ shrines, and monasteries

Byzantine Egypt and the Coptic period, an ...
by The British Museum

By the seventh and eighth centuries in Egypt, patterns on the highest-quality silk panels had become extremely sophisticated and complex

Coptic silk panel
by The British Museum

King Piye was the first major ruler in Egypt of the Kushite Dynasty (referred to as the Twenty-fifth Dynasty)

King Piye and the Kushite control of ...
by The British Museum

Throughout the Meroitic period Egyptian elements introduced into Kushite royal burial practices under the early Napatan kings were retained and reinterpreted

Meroitic period of the Kingdom of Kush
by The British Museum

Between 500 and 600 C.E., the rulers of three Nubian medieval kingdoms, Nobatia, Makuria and Alwa, governed the Nile valley from the first cataract to just south of modern Khartoum in Sudan—and eventually became Christian

Medieval Nubian Kingdoms, an introduction
by The British Museum

This mask is used by dancers in performances during burial rites

Punu-Lumbo mask, from Gabon
by Minneapolis Institute of Art

This wooden coffin in the form of eagle with painted gold feather markings was made in the village of Teshie in Ghana.

Coffin in the shape of an eagle
by The British Museum

These pieces of broken pots were picked up on a beach in Tanzania, East Africa, and they come from pots that were actually made as far away as China or the Middle East.

Kilwa pot sherds
by The British Museum

Sudan is home to the oldest sub-Saharan African kingdom, the kingdom of Kush.

Ancient Nubia and the Kingdom of Kush, ...
by The British Museum

Contemporary artist Sheila Hicks discusses the geometric iconography and calligraphy of this Ethiopian prayer book

Sheila Hicks on The Harp of Praise ...
by The Metropolitan Museum of Art

This head of Augustus was found at Meroe, buried in front of the steps of a Kushite temple, possibly dedicated to Victory.

Head of Augustus at Meroë
by The British Museum

Royal patrons, artists, and power in the Kingdom of Benin.

Benin Art: Patrons, Artists and Current Controversies
by Dr. Kathryn Wysocki Gunsch

Post navigation

See More >>

<< Go Back