Essay On African American Culture

Differences aesthetics of African cultures

The beauty of African art can convey emotional messages to the observer. It is important however to understand the culture that influenced the art. It is hard to distinguish between different types of African art as many of the basic themes of African art are religion. Religion most often manifests itself into African art through masks, sculpture, ancestor or cult figures, fetishes, and reliquary figures. There are many different religions throughout the continent of Africa and just as many forms of art. In Africa there are clear standards of beauty. These standards include resemblance to a human being, luminosity, self-composure, and youthfulness. The Yoruba tribe uses these standards quite often in their work. The Yoruba are a number of semi-independent people loosely linked in, geography, religion, history, and language. They are from around the Nigeria region, and have one of the highest twin birth
rates around the world. It is considered a great fortune to give birth to twins within the Yoruba.
The “Ere Ibeji Twin Figures” is a type of sculpture that is used to collect the soul of a twin who has died. The sculpture consists of three separate parts and represents a small child. The figure has a head, a body and feet. It is common for a mother who has lost a twin child to adorn the sculpture in cloth and jewelry and keep the figure close to her bed. The figure holds many of the standards of beauty. It can be seen from the figure that it is posed to represent the strong noble power of twins. The figure does not directly represent the child but there are similar features to give the resemblance to a human life form. There are also It can also be seen as a metaphor to self composure, as the object seems to be composed as proud, dignifies and reserved. The figure is also smoothed with sandpaper giving it the quality of luminosity. As the sculpture is that of a child, the quality of youthfulness is obviously
represented. Another culture that has their own aesthetics within their art are the Mende and Temne societies. Their standards include inner serenity, nobility and intelligence, as well as youthfulness. These can be seen in mainly within their sculptures. A basic description of such sculptures include a large head with a domed foreheads and depressed faces underneath, they also have small lips. All other features including the neck legs and arms are straight and slender, with the exception of large breasts. The positions of the sculptures vary and can be standing knelling or sitting. Most of the expressions are composed showing inner serenity. The representation of intelligence can be interpreted by the large forehead. Most facial features are portrait like with indicates the preservation of youthful beauty. Although these cultures have different aesthetics, both are very strong. It can be seen that these two art forms are influenced specifically by the views of the culture, usually somewhat based on their religion. Art in Africa is a cultural expression and a valuable form to each specific culture.