African art narrative

Tafadzwa Gwetai

The study of African art has encountered several impediments. African art can be described as being the the most complex of all the types mainly due to to their depth in meaning and a lack of understanding a strong bias inclined towards western ideals. 

Historiography is the study of the developments of the various styles of art. It involves the placing of all the influences that let to the existence of certain cultural norms. The conceptual framework of the European towards the African had to change as their attitudes were rooted in colonialism and their negative view of the African black man and thus art from Africa was debased. Africans were treated with no respect and thus were not given the social status that they deserved. 

African art history needs to be analysed and appropriately contextualised so as to fully comprehend where and why African art exists with out comparing the art styles to European art thus resulting in the degrading of other art forms over the other based on race. Contextualising art involves understanding of the forces that influence certain beliefs, rituals, behaviours and attitudes. The criticism of art involves the study of the culture from which the artwork was produced. Culture is constantly changing and this is what needs to be fully understood as the change that most Africans underwent was mainly not of their will and thus one must sympathise and appreciate these forced changes.

The West did not easily accept African art on the grounds that they could not classify the styles of African art according to their art types of which were based on Eurocentric schools of thought. European art was dominated by “literate” art academics and this was where the stumbling block existed when it came to the comprehension of African art. African art was debased on the grounds of a lack of intellectuals that would have explained and well documented the progression of events linked to art. 

“Academics” came up with terms that would attempt to justify why African art could not be interpreted and thus they “otherised” all art that was from Africa on the grounds there was no link to what they regarded as art. The term “otherisation” was a technique coined by the Europeans as a negative way to place African art in a group of its own, separate from the rest of the art forms on the basis that it was was under developed or statnic. “Otherisation” was also based on racial grounds as Africa was divided into two, with the bottom half being regarded as the sub- saharan on the basis of complexion and ethic groups while placing the the the northern half in a higher category. European art was termed “true art” on the grounds that they based their development on aesthetic standards that they set for themselves.

The “otherisation” of African art placed it in a league of its own and this meant that it had to be studied without any external references made to it. The attitudes assumed by the Europeans were degrading and dehumanising in nature. Africans were regarded as not having a culture and a history. Europeans perceived themselves as being superior over all other ethnic groups because of their advanced techknowlogy and state of mind that led to the existence of racial grounds of superiority over the black African.

To fully understand art, one has to contextualise it with the culture. Every culture that exists is highly complex as a result of the fact that art does not stand independent of its community in which it is created. The major difference between African art and Western art is the functional qualities that they possess. African art is is highly functional as the art works are created for the community as whole. Western art is not necessarily for the community but is aimed at the display of skill, an aesthetic agenda and is an on going process that focuses on change and development of one style to another.

African contact with the west has been highly significant in the fact that the colonial encounter destabilised our African traditional beliefs. Western ideas and philosophies and cultures are constantly overshadowing some of Africa’s true identity. Africa has had to do a lot of catching up with European standards and now has a commanding voice on the world platform of art discourse. African art has finally entered these levels of intellectual appreciation and the African art narrative has improved in global appreciation. Zimbabwean artistes have penetrated these global art platforms and our story is being told and understood by a bigger audience. Through the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Harare, Zimbabwe has been participating on the Venice Biennale art platform since the year 2011. Our art from Zimbabwe and Africa as a whole needs intellectual justification and such platforms aid in legitimising our creations. Dialogue is created through the art forms and their purpose documents stages and states of mind of a community. We live in a privileged time when art is being studied form an African perspective and can own our stories.

Photograph – courtesy of House of Menka. Remember, ‘Legalise Art”,  promote, permit, admit, validate, legitimise, decriminalise, authorise. Feedback: [email protected]/[email protected]