Fine arts

When speaking about African fine arts, one should not forget about the Ethiopian Christian painting that formed under the influence of Byzantine painting, and the Neolithic rock paintings discovered in abundance in the Sahara and in southern Africa, and about rock paintings made by the Dogon people in Mali during the celebration of boys’ initiation. However, the first thought is about wooden sculpture.

The “plastic symbolism” of African wooden sculpture became a revelation for the European artists of the early 20th century. But, being charmed with a new fashionable trend, they often forgot that the traditional “African art” is not what we mean by art. The purpose of an African woodcurver is not a symbolic cognition of the word, but following a canon. Only under this condition an object can fulfill its purpose. And the purpose of such wooden figures is most often magical. For example, a figurine may be dwelling-place of the spirit of an ancestor which helps its descendants. A figure can also give home to another spirit, whose favor can be won by making sacrifices and making the necessary rituals. A mask by itself is considered to be a live creature full of magical power: it possesses the person who wears it, and turns him into an obedient executor of its will.

Woodcurvers have been respected everywhere. The peoples of Cameroon believed that it was suitable even for their rulers to make wooden figures.

It is not infrequent today in Africa that masters only follow the traditions in outward appearance, and the objects they produce are pieces of art in its full meaning. Many schools of African wood carving are world famous, and African wooden statuettes and masks can be bought throughout the world.

Monastery where the most ancient Ethiopian painting is found.  Ethiopia, Lalibela. M. Grevers.		"Angry baboon" Mask  Mali. The Bamana. E. den Otter.		Painter and carpenter Wagahta Besuhun and his tools. Ethiopoa. Gabriel Kenf. M. Grevers.