African Scenes and Symbols

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Not really, because Marvel has a tight schedule. So we traveled and we learned; I had teams that went and studied how items were made in South Africa and other parts of Africa. We watched how beading was done and how beads were made. What colors were used, the lines of the blankets.

And I worked with some of the best artists in Hollywood and Broadway, I mean people who know their stuff, but sometimes that posed a challenge. Because we weren't trying to be "African-inspired. I had to beat The Lion King out of a few of them. Now personally, I was a little worried about M'baku's character, because of how he was represented in the comics. But you gave him a fabulous twist. Yes, well, most of that, again, was Ryan. Winston's character and the Jabari people had to be handled differently because they lived away from the city in the mountains and were anti-technology, you see.

Their totem was the white ape, as T'Challa's was the Black Panther. They didn't believe Vibranium should be used the way it was in the city, they prefer the old ways, so there had to be fur and woven fabrics, because they lived in a colder climate. But not blankets, as with the Border Tribe. It was like a family, really, they were all fun, but you know Forest came to me early on and wanted to see my sketches and wanted to hear all about the research I did for his character. His ceremonial outfit was very layered and is based on what's worn in Southwest Nigeria.

He wore an agbada , which is a long robe that Yoruba men of high stature, including priests, wear; in fact T'Challa wears something similar a few times. The top layer was all tubing that had been dyed and layered to drape just like the fabric beneath it. But yes, he wanted to know what every piece of his garment was for and how he would have gotten dressed in it to help with his character. The Dora Miljae costumes. Simply because besides T'challa, they were so important in the comics, and although Ryan wanted to use the red, I got to run with that and design them.

In fact, it was Ryan's idea to keep the Dora covered from neck to toe. He did not want them seen as sexual objects, and neither did I, so only in the ritual scene where they are going to actually be in the water do you see a little more of their bodies, but it's still pretty modest. They were patterned after the Masai of Kenya , you know that red and the beadwork, but also their neckwear.

The golden collars were reminiscent of the Ndebele women. Also, I hid some symbols on the Dora Milaje costumes. They all had to look uniform, of course, but each pallet that hung from their waist had a symbol, which represented where each member of the Dora was from. Some were water tribe, some were Jabari, if you look closely, you can see that they were from all different regions, and we wanted to represent that in a subtle way.

Black Panther opens in theaters on February If you are interested in Ruth's work or costuming in general, definitely check out her blog. She's also featured in Comcast's new short film Groundbreakers: Skip to main content. Black Panther designer Ruth Carter reveals the African symbols embedded in the costumes.

How They Did That. By submitting your information, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. Sign in to comment: The many box office records set by Black Panther so far Jordan Zakarin. Into the Spider-Verse Tag: The Crimes of Grindelwald. TV This Week Tag: The Laat Kingdom Tag: The Good Place Tag: Behind the Panel Tag: In 2 Minutes Tag: The terracotta figures are hollow, coil built, nearly life sized human heads and bodies that are depicted with highly stylized features, abundant jewelry , and varied postures.

Little is known of the original function of the pieces, but theories include ancestor portrayal, grave markers , and charms to prevent crop failure, infertility, and illness. Also, based on the dome-shaped bases found on several figures, they could have been used as finials for the roofs of ancient structures.

Margaret Young-Sanchez, Associate Curator of Art of the Americas, Africa, and Oceania in The Cleveland Museum of Art , explains that most Nok ceramics were shaped by hand from coarse-grained clay and subtractively sculpted in a manner that suggests an influence from wood carving.

After some drying, the sculptures were covered with slip and burnished to produce a smooth, glossy surface. The figures are hollow, with several openings to facilitate thorough drying and firing. The firing process most likely resembled that used today in Nigeria, in which the pieces are covered with grass, twigs, and leaves and burned for several hours. As a result of natural erosion and deposition, Nok terracottas were scattered at various depths throughout the Sahel grasslands, causing difficulty in the dating and classification of the mysterious artifacts.

Luckily, two archaeological sites, Samun Dukiya and Taruga , were found containing Nok art that had remained unmoved.

Many further dates were retrieved in the course of new archaeological excavations, extending the beginnings of the Nok tradition even further back in time. Because of the similarities between the two sites, archaeologist Graham Connah believes that "Nok artwork represents a style that was adopted by a range of iron-using farming societies of varying cultures, rather than being the diagnostic feature of a particular human group as has often been claimed.

In this Nok work, the head is dramatically larger than the body supoorting it, yet the figure possesses elegant details and a powerful focus. The neat protrusion from the chin represents a beard. Necklaces from a cone around the neck and keep the focus on the face. Relief fragment with heads and figures; 5th century BC — 5th century AD; length: As most African art styles, the Nok style focuses mainly on people, rarely on animals. All of the Nok statues are very stylized and similar in that they have this triangular shape eye with a perforated pupil, with arched eyebrows.

The mouth of this head is slightly open. It maybe suggests speech, that the figure has something to tell us. This is a figure that seems to be in the midst of a conversation.

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The eyes and the eyebrows suggest an inner calm or an inner serenity. Benin art is the art from the Kingdom of Benin or Edo Empire — , a pre-colonial African state located in what is now known as the South-South region of Nigeria. The Benin Bronzes are a group of more than a thousand metal plaques and sculptures that decorated the royal palace of the Kingdom of Benin in what is now modern-day Nigeria. In most of the plaques and other objects were taken by the British during a punitive expedition to the area as imperial control was being consolidated in Southern Nigeria.

Plaque with warriors and attendants; 16th—17th century; brass; height: Plaque equestrian an Oba on horseback with attendants; between and ; brass; height: Plaque that probably represents a musician; 17th century; bronze; Leopard aquamanile; 17th century; brass; Ethnological Museum of Berlin. The bronze leopards were used to decorate the altar of the oba. The leopard, a symbol of power, appears in many bronze plaques, from the oba's palace. Figure of a horn blower; ; copper alloy; Blowing a horn or flute with his right hand, his left arm is truncated. He also wears a netted cap with chevron design decorated with a feather.

One of four related ivory pendant masks among the prized regalia of the Oba of Benin taken by the British during the Benin Expedition of The Igbo produce a wide variety of art including traditional figures, masks, artifacts and textiles, plus works in metals such as bronze. Artworks form the Igbo have been found from as early as 9th century with the bronze artifacts found at Igbo Ukwu. Their masks are similar with the Fang ones, being white and black in about same parts. Igbo wooden complex, currently in the Britfllunish Museum. Yoruba art is best known for the heads from Ife , made of ceramic, brass and other materials.

Much of their art is associated with the royal courts. They also produced elaborate masks and doors, full of details and painted in bright colors, such as blue, yellow, red and white. Bronze head from Ife ; 12th - 15th century; brass ; British Museum London. Headdress; early s; wood, hair; Idoma people ; Cleveland Museum of Art. The primary ethnic groups in Mali are the Bambara also known as Bamana and the Dogon.

Smaller ethnic groups consist of the Marka, and the Bozo fisherman of the Niger River. Ancient civilizations flourished in areas like Djene and Timbuktu, where a great variety of ancient bronze and terra-cotta figures have been unearthed. They are made of terracotta, a material that has been used in West Africa for some ten thousand years. Terracotta seated figure; 13th century; earthenware; The facial expression and pose could depict an individual in mouring or in pain. Female figure; 13thth century; terracotta covered with red ochre; height: Equestrian figure; 13thth century; height: The Bambara people Bambara: Bamanankaw adapted many artistic traditions and began to create display pieces.

Before money was the main drive of creation of their artworks they used their abilities solely as a sacred craft for display of spiritual pride, religious beliefs and display of customs.

Example artworks include the Bamana n'tomo mask. Other statues were created for people such as hunters and farmers so others could leave offerings after long farming seasons or group hunts. The stylistic variations in Bambara art are extreme sculptures, masks and headdresses display either stylized or realistic features, and either weathered or encrusted patinas.

Until quite recently, the function of Bambara pieces was shrouded in mystery, but in the last twenty years field studies have revealed that certain types of figures and headdresses were associated with a number of the societies that structure Bambara life. During the s a group of approximately twenty figures, masks and TjiWara headdresses belonging to the so-called 'Segou style' were identified. The style is distinct and recognizable by its typical flat faces, arrow-shaped noses, all-over body triangular scarifications and, on the figures, splayed hands.

There are three major and one minor type of Bambara mask. The first type, used by the N'tomo society, has a typical comb-like structure above the face, is worn during dances and may be covered with cowrie shells. The second type of mask, associated with the Komo society, has a spherical head with two antelope horns on the top and an enlarged, flattened mouth.

They are used during dances, but some have a thick encrusted patina acquired during other ceremonies in which libations are poured over them. The third type has connections with the Nama society and is carved in the form of an articulated bird's head, while the fourth, minor type, represents a stylized animal head and is used by the Kore society. Other Bambara masks are known to exist, but unlike those described above, they cannot be linked to specific societies or ceremonies. Bambara carvers have established a reputation for the zoomorphic headdresses worn by Tji-Wara society members.

Although they are all different, they all display a highly abstract body, often incorporating a zig-zag motif, which represents the sun's course from east to west, and a head with two large horns. Bambara members of the Tji-Wara society wear the headdress while dancing in their fields at sowing time, hoping to increase the crop yield. Bambara statuettes are primarily used during the annual ceremonies of the Guan society. The sculptures are washed, re-oiled and sacrifices are offered to them at their shrines. These figures — some of which date from between the 14th and 16th centuries — usually display a typical crested coiffure, often adorned with a talisman.

Two of these figures were ascribed great significance: The two figures were surrounded by Guannyeni attendant figures standing or seated in various positions, holding a vessel, or a musical instrument, or their breasts. During the s, numerous fakes from Bamako which were based on these sculptures entered the market. They were produced in Bamako. Other Bambara figures, called Dyonyeni, are thought to be associated with either the southern Dyo society or the Kwore society.

The blacksmith members of the Dyo society used them during dances to celebrate the end of their initiation ceremonies. They were handled, held by dancers and placed in the middle of the ceremonial circle. Among the corpus of Bambara figures, Boh sculptures are perhaps the best known. These statues represent a highly stylized animal or human figure, and are made of wood which is repeatedly covered in thick layers of earth impregnated with sacrificial materials such as millet, chicken or goat blood, kola nuts and alcoholic drinks.

They were employed by the Kono and the Komo societies and served as receptacles for spiritual forces, and could in turn be used for apotropaic purposes.

African art

Each special creative trait a person obtained was seen as a different way to please higher spirits. Dogon art is primarily sculpture. Dogon art revolves around religious values, ideals, and freedoms Laude, Dogon sculptures are not made to be seen publicly, and are commonly hidden from the public eye within the houses of families, sanctuaries, or kept with the Hogon Laude, The importance of secrecy is due to the symbolic meaning behind the pieces and the process by which they are made.

Themes found throughout Dogon sculpture consist of figures with raised arms, superimposed bearded figures, horsemen, stools with caryatids, women with children, figures covering their faces, women grinding pearl millet, women bearing vessels on their heads, donkeys bearing cups, musicians, dogs, quadruped-shaped troughs or benches, figures bending from the waist, mirror-images, aproned figures, and standing figures Laude, 46— Signs of other contacts and origins are evident in Dogon art.

The Dogon people were not the first inhabitants of the cliffs of Bandiagara. Influence from Tellem art is evident in Dogon art because of its rectilinear designs Laude, Dogon art is extremely versatile, although common stylistic characteristics — such as a tendency towards stylization — are apparent on the statues. Their art deals with the myths whose complex ensemble regulates the life of the individual. The sculptures are preserved in innumerable sites of worship, personal or family altars, altars for rain, altars to protect hunters, in market.

As a general characterization of Dogon statues, one could say that they render the human body in a simplified way, reducing it to its essentials. Some are extremely elongated with emphasis on geometric forms. The subjective impression is one of immobility with a mysterious sense of a solemn gravity and serene majesty, although conveying at the same time a latent movement.

Dogon sculpture recreates the hermaphroditic silhouettes of the Tellem, featuring raised arms and a thick patina made of blood and millet beer. The four Nommo couples, the mythical ancestors born of the god Amma, ornament stools, pillars or men's meeting houses, door locks, and granary doors. The primordial couple is represented sitting on a stool, the base of which depicts the earth while the upper surface represents the sky; the two are interconnected by the Nommo.

The seated female figures, their hands on their abdomen, are linked to the fertility cult, incarnating the first ancestor who died in childbirth, and are the object of offerings of food and sacrifices by women who are expecting a child. Kneeling statues of protective spirits are placed at the head of the dead to absorb their spiritual strength and to be their intermediaries with the world of the dead, into which they accompany the deceased before once again being placed on the shrines of the ancestors.

Horsemen are remainders of the fact that, according to myth, the horse was the first animal present on earth. The Dogon style has evolved into a kind of cubism: Dogon sculptures serve as a physical medium in initiations and as an explanation of the world. They serve to transmit an understanding to the initiated, who will decipher the statue according to the level of their knowledge. Carved animal figures, such as dogs and ostriches, are placed on village foundation altars to commemorate sacrificed animals, while granary doors, stools and house posts are also adorned with figures and symbols.

There are nearly eighty styles of masks, but their basic characteristic is great boldness in the use of geometric shapes, independent of the various animals they are supposed to represent. The structure of a large number of masks is based on the interplay of vertical and horizontal lines and shapes. Another large group has triangular, conic shapes. All masks have large geometric eyes and stylized features. The masks are often polychrome, but on many the color is lost; after the ceremonies they were left on the ground and quickly deteriorated because of termites and other conditions.

The Dogon continue an ancient masquerading tradition, which commemorates the origin of death. According to their myths, death came into the world as a result of primeval man's transgressions against the divine order. Dama memorial ceremonies are held to accompany the dead into the ancestral realm and restore order to the universe. The performance of masqueraders — sometimes as many as — at these ceremonies is considered absolutely necessary. In the case of the dama, the timing, types of masks involved, and other ritual elements are often specific to one or two villages and may not resemble those seen in locations only several kilometres distant.

The masks also appear during baga-bundo rites performed by small numbers of masqueraders before the burial of a male Dogon. Dogon masks evoke the form of animals associated with their mythology, yet their significance is only understood by the highest ranking cult members whose role is to explain the meaning of each mask to a captivated audience. Figure of a seated musician koro player ; late 18th century; Female figure; late 19th to early 20th century; National Museum of African Art. One of a distinctive stylistic group of about a dozen sculptures, this figure gives an impression of size and presence.

Burkina Faso is a small, landlocked country north of Ghana and south of Mali and Niger. Economically, it is one of the four or five poorest countries in the world. Culturally, it is extremely rich. In part this is because so few people from Burkina have become Muslim or Christian. In great part they honor the spirits through the use of masks and carved figures.

Many of the countries to the north of Burkina Faso had become predominantly Muslim, while many of the countries to the south of Burkina Faso are heavily Christian. In contrast many of the people of Burkina Faso continue to offer prayers and sacrifices to the spirits of nature and to the spirits of their ancestors. The result is that they continue to use the sorts of art that we see in museums in Europe and America.

The Fang people make masks and basketry, carvings, and sculptures. Fang art is characterized by organized clarity and distinct lines and shapes. Bieri, boxes to hold the remains of ancestors, are carved with protective figures. Masks are worn in ceremonies and for hunting. The faces are painted white with black features. Myene art centers around Myene rituals for death. Female ancestors are represented by white painted masks worn by the male relatives. The Bekota use brass and copper to cover their carvings. They use baskets to hold ancestral remains. Tourism is rare in Gabon, and unlike in other African countries, art is not spurred on by commerce.

The Ivorian people use masks to represent animals in caricature to depict deities, or to represent the souls of the departed. As the masks are held to be of great spiritual power, it is considered a taboo for anyone other than specially trained persons or chosen ones to wear or possess certain masks. These ceremonial masks are each thought to have a soul, or life force, and wearing these masks is thought to transform the wearer into the entity the mask represents.

Ivory Coast also has modern painters and illustrators. Groud criticizes the ancient beliefs in black magic , as held with the spiritual masks mentioned above, in his illustrated book Magie Noire. Kenyan art has changed much in the post colonial years. The s saw the self-taught African painters mostly inspired by the demand for original African paintings. These include the Ancient Soi, and Moses Gichuiri. Kenyatta University also produced artists but more so taught in western art styles of painting.

Among these include John Dianga and Moses Gichuiri. Others include the late Dr. Sylvester Maina, Stephen Mayienga and others. The s produced many contemporary artists. Bulinya Martins and Sarah Shiundu. The two by virtue of having learned many basic techniques in design are highly innovative both in style, use of color and execution. Pure abstract art is rare in Kenya. Most artists paint semi-abstract with distorted human figures. The initial paintings by Bulinya Martins were a combination of cubism and original African abstractions. The late Mainga's abstractions were 2D and highly embellished on leather.

As for material, the use of Acrylics and oil is more frequent than watercolors. Oil paint is by far the preferred medium today and it lasts much longer. The art items in Kenya include sisal baskets, elephant hair bracelets, Maasai bead jewelry, musical instruments, silver and gold jewelry, soapstone sculptures, wooden carvings, tribal masks, Maasai figurines, paintings, prints and sculptures.

These art items are available in the arts and craft markets and shops throughout the main tourist centers of Kenya. Cloth in Kenya also represents interesting art, with batik cloth, kangas women's wraparound skirts with patterns and even Kenyan proverbs printed on them and kikois type of sarong for men that come in many different colors and textiles. Kenya offers African jewelry containing cowry shells, and soapstone carvings from Western Kenya, carved by the Gusii and Abagusii ethnic groups in Kisii stone.

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The Eskenazi Museum of Art at Indiana University has a large collection of traditional art objects from Kenya including jewelry, containers, weapons, walking sticks, headrests, stools, utensils, and other objects available online. Ethiopian art from the 4th century until the 20th can be divided into two broad groupings. First comes a distinctive tradition of Christian art, mostly for churches, in forms including painting , crosses , icons , illuminated manuscripts , and other metalwork such as crowns.

Secondly there are popular arts and crafts such as textiles, basketry and jewellery , in which Ethiopian traditions are closer to those of other peoples in the region. Its history goes back almost three thousand years to the kingdom of D'mt. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church has been the predominant religion in Ethiopia for over years, for most of this period in a very close relation, or union, with the Coptic Christianity of Egypt , so that Coptic art has been the main formative influence on Ethiopian church art.

Prehistoric rock art comparable to that of other African sites survives in a number of places, and until the arrival of Christianity stone stelae , often carved with simple reliefs, were erected as grave-markers and for other purposes in many regions; Tiya is one important site. The "pre-Axumite" Iron Age culture of about the 5th century BCE to the 1st century CE was influenced by the Kingdom of Kush to the north, and settlers from Arabia , and produced cities with simple temples in stone, such as the ruined one at Yeha , which is impressive for its date in the 4th or 5th century BCE.

The powerful Kingdom of Aksum emerged in the 1st century BCE and dominated Ethiopia until the 10th century, having become very largely Christian from the 4th century. However the earliest works remaining show a clear continuity with Coptic art of earlier periods. There was considerable destruction of churches and their contents in the 16th century when the country was invaded by Muslim neighbours. The revival of art after this was influenced by Catholic European art in both iconography and elements of style, but retained its Ethiopian character.

In the 20th century, Western artists and architects began to be commissioned by the government, and to train local students, and more fully Westernized art was produced alongside continuations of traditional church art. Church paintings in Ethiopia were likely produced as far back as the introduction of Christianity in the 4th century AD, [37] although the earliest surviving examples come from the church of Debre Selam Mikael in the Tigray Region , dated to the 11th century AD. Ethiopian painting, on walls, in books, and in icons , [40] is highly distinctive, though the style and iconography are closely related to the simplified Coptic version of Late Antique and Byzantine Christian art.

From the 16th century, Roman Catholic church art and European art in general began to exert some influence. However, Ethiopian art is highly conservative and retained much of its distinct character until modern times. The production of illuminated manuscripts for use continued up to the present day. Another important form of Ethiopian art, also related to Coptic styles, are crosses made from wood and metal. The heads are typically flat cast plates with elaborate and complex openwork decoration.

The cross motif emerges from the decoration, with the whole design often forming a rotated square or circular shape, though the designs are highly varied and inventive.

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Many incorporate curved motifs rising from the base, which are called the "arms of Adam ". Except in recent Western-influenced examples, they usually have no corpus , or figure of Christ, and the design often incorporates numerous smaller crosses. Engraved figurative imagery has sometimes been added. Crosses are mostly either processional crosses , with the metal head mounted on a long wooden staff, carried in religious processions and during the liturgy , or hand crosses, with a shorter metal handle in the same casting as the head.

Smaller crosses worn as jewellery are also common.

Ethiopia has great ethnic and linguistic diversity, and styles in secular traditional crafts vary greatly in different parts of the country. There are a range of traditions in textiles, many with woven geometric decoration, although many types are also usually plain. Ethiopian church practices make a great deal of use of colourful textiles, and the more elaborate types are widely used as church vestments and as hangings, curtains and wrappings in churches, although they have now largely been supplanted by Western fabrics.

Examples of both types can be seen in the picture at the top of the article. Icons may normally be veiled with a semi-transparent or opaque cloth; very thin chiffon -type cotton cloth is a speciality of Ethiopia, though usually with no pattern. Colourful basketry with a coiled construction is common in rural Ethiopia. The products have many uses, such as storing grains, seeds and food and being used as tables and bowls. The Muslim city of Harar is well known for its high quality basketry, [44] and many craft products of the Muslim minority relate to wider Islamic decorative traditions.

Tinga Tinga art has roots in decorating hut walls in central and south Tanzania. It was first in when Edward Said Tingatinga started to paint on wooden sheets with enamel colours when Tinga Tinga art became known. The art of the Makonde must be subdivided into different areas. The Makonde are known as master carvers throughout East Africa, and their statuary that can be found being sold in tourist markets and in museums alike. They traditionally carve household objects, figures and masks. Since the s years the socalled Modern Makonde Art has been developed. An essential step was the turning to abstract figures, mostly spirits Shetani that play a special role.

Makonde are also part of the important contemporary artists of Africa today. An outstanding position is taken by George Lilanga. The Kuba Kingdom flourished between the 17th and 19th centuries in the region bordered by the Sankuru , Lulua , and Kasai rivers in the south-east of the modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo.

A great deal of the art was created for the courts of chiefs and kings and was profusely decorated, incorporating cowrie shells and animal skins especially leopard as symbols of wealth, prestige and power. Masks are also important to the Kuba. They are used both in the rituals of the court and in the initiation of boys into adulthood, as well as at funerals. Like many other Kuba masks, this one is decorated with cowrie shells. Like many Kuba types of masks, ngady-mwash mask is extensively polychromed, or multicolored.

Mulwalwa mask; 19th or early 20th century; painted wood and raffia; Ethnological Museum of Berlin. This mask embodies a powerful nature spirit.

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