Tribal African Art Video (Chokwe/Tchokwe)

A look at 50 Top Artist in Africa

Article by the Independant

Art is such a diverse and vast field that we found an interesting article on 50 top African artists.When you talk about the art culture in Africa, it is impossible to separate music from dance, instruments from costume outfits. Everything is linked to the communities themselves. For the complete article click the title "A look at 50 Top Artist in Africa" at the top of the blog article. A great article from the Independant and its writers.

Helmet crest

Helmet crest
Wood
Size in cm: 40 x 19 x 13
Weight: 400g.

These helmet crests are examples of ownership by politically influential men's association in every kingdom of the region. The lineage masks used during memorial services for the dead, latterly represent animals such as apes, sheep, bird species or buffaloes. However, elephant and leopard masks / crests are considered as royal animals and the use of such royal animal masks is reserved for the privilaged of certain lineages. This exclusive elephant mask, which would be worn horizontally on the head, can be sourced back to the Babanki style of the northwestern Grasslands.

Face Mask

Face Mask (Mwisi gwa so'o)
Wood, dark polish
Size in cm: 28 x 20 x 11
Weight: 600g.

The Hemba people inhibit the region of the Democratic Republic of Congo and are well known for their figurative sculptures of ancestors. Less interest has been devoted to their often extremely stylized chimpanzee masks, which according to modern research are called mwisi gwa so'o (spirit-invested object of the chimpanzee-human). The strange and bizarre appearance of these masks is noted with the broad, narrow and grinning mouth opening, arched brows and sometimes pointy nose which is strongly set off from facial surface. The masqueraders wearing these masks wear a costume made of animal skin and bark cloth in addition with white and black colobus monkey hair. Hemba memorial ceremonies reflect ideas about death and social chaos and stand in diametrical opposition towards an orderly world of living.

Fang Mask(s)

Fang Mask
Wood, wood polish
Size in cm: (Male) 64 x 15 x 7
(Female) 62 x 15 x 7
Weight: (Male) 150g.
(Female) 200g.

Members of this male society wore the Ngil masks during the initiation of new members and the persecution of wrongdoers aswell as the use of a form of passport for crossing cultural borders. Masqueraders, clad in raffia costumes and attended by helpers, would materialize in the village after dark, illuminated by flickering torchlight. This great rain forest region in the Fang territory is a plateau of middle altitude, with innumerable waters with falls and rapids rendering navigation for the most part impossible, and with a climate typically equatorial. The top mask would be used for woman which is strongly indicated by the certain tattoo patterns across the face whereas the lower/bottom mask would be primarily carved for male members.

Wemba Statue

Wemba Statue
Wood, Glassbeads
Size in cm: 22 x 72 x 22
Weight: 3.4kg

The karan-wemba statue combines a wooden female figure standing on a stool-shaped surface. The standing female figure is ornamented with a colourful glassbead necklace and sacrification patterns on belly and arm region. This indicates the high ranking of such a woman and most probably married to a community member. Carving in such a style comes from the region of Burkina Faso, an area where Mossi horsemen from northern Ghana conquered the earlier Dogon inhabitants (about 1500). These sculptures went together with karan-wemba masks which were used in tribal functions to appear at the funeral of an elderly Mossi woman. The statue represents the woman at the height of her physical beauty.