Paste your essay in here…Art is one of the most predominant forms of expressing one’s culture and has been for as long as art has been around. It is often how we observe and study cultures from years ago and understand how people in that society live. The beautiful thing about art is how each culture can define and use it differently. For example, the portfolio of art from the African collection at the Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art is both dramatically different and interestingly enough the same as the art created here in Gainesville. Through exploring this collection of pieces, we can better understand what is deemed important in African societies and compare that to the Gainesville Community.
Introduction
The city of Gainesville has approximately 130,000 residents, many of which are associated with the University of Florida. With the median resident age in the area at twenty-six years of age, it is no surprise the art work created in this area may express different values than art work created in more balanced communities. However, the area includes a high population of educated individuals and brings together some of the most highly esteemed people from all across Florida and even across the nation. The school itself has upwards of sixty different sports teams, over one thousand clubs and roughly 50,000 students represented in both graduate and undergraduate programs. Because of this mass collection of people and so many different clubs and places to express yourself, Gainesville has immaculately diverse perspectives and thus artworks. One opportunity these students are given is to explore the worlds many cultures right at the Harn Musuem of Art on campus. Through this resource, we can compare the works of art from both traditional and modern day African societies to that here in Gainesville, Florida.
Traditional Culture in Africa
The works displayed at the Harn Museum of Art is taken mostly from Sub- Saharan and Western Africa and is highlighted for its ability to represent such a large range of media types, geographic locations and African cultures between five BCE all the way to the twenty first century. Historically, mediums such as wood, bead work and pain were used in the art created here. One of the most common pieces of art made all throughout Africa is the traditional mask. Whether is woman, man or animal, it represents something of importance the culture of the people who made it. They are often used in ceremonies, crop harvests or in war. The Bedu Mask in particular, is that from the Senufo people. In their culture, the Bedu is a mythical wild animal that brings benefits to those around it. The mask is typically used in New Yeats festivities and ceremonies to bring luck in the upcoming year. You can see the earthen colors used in this piece and how African Art traditionally shows symmetry. This piece incorporates the typical values and important aspects of traditional societies in Africa. Other historically prevalent themes in African Art include representing one’s status by use of beads or fine metals or remembering one’s ancestors. Pride in one family or society is often shown in traditional art.
Present Day African Culture
Many of the concepts and values behind modern day African Art is largely similar to that of traditional African Art. Similar styles and mediums show obvious similarities but behind the actual piece of art, the meaning and importance of what they are representing is similar, sometimes with minor differences. For example, the “Spirit Spouse” is a wooden woman seated on a stool. The Baule people say that each person is said to be paired with a spouse and the Spirit Spouse is created to bring positive influences on relationships. The importance of family and honoring women is still show in this piece as a very traditional value of the Baule people. However, in the one shown here, the woman is shown in modern day western attire to show her value as a “proper mother.” This is different from traditional figures of this kind. The woman also has a defined face which symbolizes individual importance. This is different than traditional African artwork in the sense that in the past, only men were given specific facial features and the woman was just shown as a generalized maternal figure. This makes the role of the “Spirit Spouse” much more personal.
Importance of African Heritage
Throughout all of African History, historians and art experts have noticed trends in what is most prominently displayed in art. The importance of status is one trend that sticks out among others. Status in African society is often associated with wealth in each society and this is shown through art work. Often, status is shown by one’s dress and garments. Clothing can signify a person’s connection to family and ancestors as well as ethnicity. In this piece entitled “A Married Woman’s Dress”, there are many small details that give a great story to the importance of a woman who owned this garment. Pearl and glass beads imported from Europe signify wealth while the pins show how many children she has or the number of cattle her husband would have paid for her hand in marriage. The colorful beads were most likely awards to her during her youth to show she made significant and appropriate offerings to her ancestors. The colors in the cloth show ethnic affiliation. Different groups were given different colors to help each group identify. The number of beads and cloth in this garment are said to be a reminder to the wearer that she must carry on the legacy of her family and pass the importance down to those younger than her. She must be a leader and a role model to keep the values of the Mfengu people alive. As you can see from this piece of work, there are many different values represented in just one piece of art which makes this particular piece of work so interesting when studying heritage in African societies.
Compare and Contrast
Although the themes in African Artwork seem to be pretty consistent over time, other parts of the world have very different values and thus, often celebrate other things and express different values in their work. Here at the University of Florida, the Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art gives us a great opportunity to compare and contrast these different values expressed to the values that we here in Gainesville give meaning to. As far as differences go, the Gainesville population is dominated by college students, each with different backgrounds. Because of this, there is not a large focus on showing our ethnicity and cultural relevance in what we wear. Most college students tend to wear very standard western clothing such as shorts, t-shirts and tennis shoes. It may seem from this that people of Gainesville take less pride in where they come from and how they relate to their past. And for some this may be true, however, there are many other ways students at the University of Florida are given chances to express who they are and what they associate themselves with. With over one thousand clubs available on campus and safe spaces for minority students to gather, students can still relate to people similar to them. As far as similarities between African and Gainesville cultures, there are more than one would anticipate. For one, the idea of wealth and status is still often shown in our dress. For instance, those who are professionals and work for a living often wear finer pieces such as suits or dresses and those with a lower status such as students often wear athletic shorts or sweatpants along with a T-shirt from an affiliated organization. Wealth is also often shown through what people wear. Diamonds and gold symbolize wealth and with wealth is power often associated. Gainesville may have some slightly different and more westernized ways of showing class and affiliation, but it is still just as important here as it is in both traditional and more modern day African societies.
My connection to African culture is the importance of religion in my life. I have been religious since I was little and it has taken up a major part of my life. I went to school when I was little with people who were catholic and Catholicism was a major part of my every day routine. We had bible class and choir practice every day at my school. Now I attend clubs have joined a Christian sorority to be close to people who have similar beliefs as me. The cross is a symbol as important to me as a mask would be for traditional African cultures. Both represent a celebration and connection to my family and religion. Christianity however, Is not just a western world philosophy. For example, the Processional Cross of Ethiopia has much importance to me as part of the Christian religion. On one side is a picture of Mary holding baby Jesus with archangels overhead. This cross is estimated to have been created as far back as the 15th century under the rule of Za’ra Ya’eqob. Similarly, I have a cross that hangs above my bed with an image of Mary and baby Jesus. This shows how religion can travel all across the world and have the same impact on those of all different life styles at different points in time.
The Importance of Art
Every group of people has things that are uniquely celebrated in their community. These values and norms are not only what makes each group different but also what makes people congregate and work together for similar beliefs. Art is simply an expression of these beliefs. El Anatsui is an African artist that known for being one of the most influential contemporary artists on the continent. He is known for his ability to incorporate the importance of globalization and building of a better society in his art work. “Old Man’s Cloth” for example was created in 2003 out of flattened bottle caps originally brought over by colonists. It was supposed to represent unity for the people of Ghana. This art, like all art, had meaning behind that was there to bring people together and inspire hope. Without art, the world be very unexpressive and people would not have the passionate opportunities the way they do to spread what they feel. Art brings people together, whether it be a small group of people who are ardent about the existence of a wild mystical animal expressed through a mask, or whether it be a cross created in Ethiopia hundreds of years ago that matches crosses around the world, even in Gainesville. Art may be interpreateeed differently where ever you take it, but it will always have value. That is why art is so important and understanding the importance and relevance of art makes us as a society more accepting and tolerant. Art is there to be celebrated and show importance and without it our world would be a very hateful and sad place to live.
References:
“Bedu Mask or Bedu Plank Mask.” Image Alt, Primitive Living and Collective, www.beprimitive.com/stories-descriptions/bedu-mask-or-bedu-plank-mask.
Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art label for Mfengu people, Married Woman’s Dress. Gainesville, FL, Web. December 2, 2017.
Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art label for Senufo people, Mask Bedu. Gainesville, FL, Web. December 2, 2017.
Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art label for Buale people, Sprit Spouse. Gainesville, FL, Web. December 2, 2017.
African Art Collection. Harn Museum, harn.ufl.edu/linkedfiles/african-marriedwomandress.pdf.
Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art label for Ethipian people, Processional Cross. Gainesville, FL, Web. December 2, 2017.
Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, El Anatsui, Old Man’s Cloth. Gainesville, FL, Web. December 2, 2017.
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