British Museum

'Throwing knives from the 19th century'

Mostly made with iron, copper and vegetable fibre.

Some of are designed to be a weapon but others are not.

Not much is known about these knives and it still remains obscure but they were to suggest a great wealth of significance.

These throwing knives are personal possessions and are referred to by their owners.

When understanding the variety of forms, it may help to perceive each one as in some respects of human image.

'Backrest from Democratic Republic of Congo in the 19th century'

Made with wood overlaid and copper wire.

It was placed behind men's benches but those with metal overlay were restricted to chiefs.

'Hat from Democratic Republic of Congo, late 19th century'

'Painting by Charinda, 2002'

Charinda was born in south Tanzania who studied Tingatinga painting in Oyster Bay, Dar es Salaam.

His paintings has a educational message by drawing the village with stories.

This painting shows women wearing kangas

(which is a colorful cotton fabric usually worn by women)

in Tanzanian villages that expresses the kanga influence in Swahili society.

'Carved post from a Iatmul men's cult house about 1970-1995'

Iatmul people who live in Papua New Guinea is a society where male power is massive by having the emphasize on male warfare and head-hunting.

The village is shaped with the men's ceremonial houses which represents the aggressive assertion of power.

This housepost is one of the carvings that reflects those power of men.

Ivory Salt Cellar
Benin, Nigeria
15-16th centuries
This ivory Benin slat cellar was commissioned by the Portuguese. The iconography of the object is interesting because the Portuguese are depicted like Benin rulers. For example, the figure is holding a ceremonial sword. The ship on top depicts how the Portuguese arrived and also refers to the god associated with water and power, Olokun. Thus, one sees a very clear visual connection made by the people of Benin with the Portuguese and power/wealth.

Commemorative Coffin

Ga people of SE coast of Ghana

20th century

Kane Kwei was the first to introduce the new tradition of commemorative coffins. His coffins are commissioned by the family of the deceased and what is depicted has a direct relationship to the life led by teh deceased. For example, the owner of the coffin displayed would have had some connection to photography. Significantly, these coffins allow traditional funeral rite values to be upheld through untraditional means. The coffins were elevated to the category of 'art' through the attention of Western art dealers. Indeed, as most of his work is buried (being functional above all), commissions from tourists and foreign museums allow the works a continued public life.

An example of Bekinaruibi masquerade,

Kalabari people of Nigeria

18th century

Masquerade is quintessential to Kalabari self-perception. The shown example of Bekinaruibi masquerade depicts a water spirit, associated with unpredictable wealth and power. The water spirit is portrayed as a large water animal crossed with a ship. The employment of new materials such as mirrors and feather dusters combined with the foreign iconography of a ship show the constant process of assimilation of new ideas and materials into Kalabari visual language.

British Museum Trip

This is an example of a kanga which is worn as a garment by millions of women across Africa. Today kanga are seen as a symbol of Swahili culture and they often carry messages about health, politics, religion or sexual relations. This can be seen in this example which is from Tanzania and commemorates the life and mourns the death of Julius Nyerere, the father of independent Tanzania. I like the idea of the kanga as it is a widespread everyday functional item that has also become an art form and a way of conveying a message. This is further enhanced by the fact that the kanga is worn predominantly by women, and therefore gives them a space to show their opinions and beliefs that they might not have in official spheres.

This is a 20^th century masquerade headdress from the Bijogo people. The Bijogo divide males into different age-grades, each with masks appropriate to its character. Young boys may dress as calves or fish but older uninitiated youths assume the forms of dangerous and uncontrollable beasts such as sharks, wild bulls and in this example a sawfish. I thought this was interesting as it showed the fear of ‘youths’ and the generational conflicts we know were happening in the 20^th century.

This striking item is called ‘throne of weapons’ and is made from decommissioned weapons collected since the end of Mozambique’s civil war in 1992. During the war seven million guns – none of them made in Africa- poured into the country. From 1995 the Mozambican people were encouraged to swap their weapons for agricultural, domestic and construction tools. Artists then turned the decommissioned weapons into sculptures. I thought this object was interesting as it shows how violence became part of everyday life during the civil war by using the idea of a chair which is an everyday item. However it also seems to be a hopeful piece that is going forward, moving away from violence and trying to make positive about of tragic situation.

British Museum - Changes in Art in the 20th Century

Name: 'Man's Cloth' (Kente Cloth)

made using recycled foil bottle neck wrappers by El Anatsui, Ghana, 2001.

Symbolises the erosion of traditional cultural art forms and memories. The bottle wrappers represent this erosion by modern consumerism. The cloth that is intertwined within it paradoxically represents the 'fragility and the dynamism and strenght of tradition'.


Name: 'Complex Structure'

materials used are wood, iron, paint - made by the Igbo people of Nigeria in 1954.

comprised of seperately made elements - marked change from past art sculptures which were often a single piece made from one block of raw material - commonly wood. Evidence of artistic experimentation and development. Represents images of power, horsemen, firearms and imported goods. It thus captures the igbo encounters with modernity and in particular, colonists.

Africa Gallery