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.
Originally published 15.10.2019.