ART AND AESTHETICS:The Artistic Enterprise in Pre/Postcolonial African Societies

Art and Aesthetics DefinedConcepts of Beauty

Two Manifestations of Beauty:Outer Beauty –Ewa OdeInner Beauty—Ewa Inu

Iwa– Being, Character, site of Personality/Spirituality

Artistic Criteria

EphebismYouthfulness

Shinning SmoothnessLuminosity

Emotional ProportionSocial Proportion

CompletenessFunctionalityPolyrhythms

The Head—Ori as a site of spirituality, shrine, and altar

2 manifestations:Outer Head—Ori odeInner Head—Ori inu

Head of an Ooni,Ife, Nigeria11th/12th centuryLeaded Brass

Fragment of an ExecutionerIfe, Nigeria11th /13th century Terracotta

Lajuwa, royal usurperTerra-cotta,Ife, Yoruba, 12/15th cent.(odo) Ephebism: relative youthfulness

Ooni,Leaded brass,Appr.18.in.Ife, Yoruba, 14/15th cent.(Pipe) completeness & emotional proportion

Sango Shrine Sculptures,Yoruba, NigeriaWood, 20th cent.-aesthetics of social proportion

Bronze Plaque,Appr.21.in.Benin, Nigeria, 16/17th cent.Aesthetics of social proportions

Sowei Headdress,Sande society, (Gola, Vai Peoples)Liberia Sierra LeoneWood, pigment20th centuryRelative luminosity/shinning smoothness

Kente, hand-woven fabric, Ghana, 20th. Cent, aesthetics of polyrhythms

Linguist staff,Wood, gold leaf, 20th Cent.Metaphor of leadership

Fire spitter mask (kponugu), Senufo, Ivory CoastWood, 20th century art as metaphor

Edan Ogboni,Yoruba, NigeriaBronze 19th centuryMetaphor for cooperationAnd coexistence