Sub-Saharan Africa vs the Art Historian

Mali; Inland Niger Delta Style

The reluctance of many art historians and anthropologists to recognize African Art has greatly stunted the scholastic studies of sub-Saharan artifacts. Early in the 20th century the people studying sub-Saharan Africa were neither trained nor recognized as historians. It wasn't until the 1950's, when some museums and collectors in the US revived interest in the study of African Art in the context of modern art, that the studies became more serious. Changes in the way the West perceived Africa had to come about before any real progress could be made towards identifying and interpreting African artifacts. (1) 

In 1955 Erwin Panofsky, a German art historian teaching in the US, proposed a new way to analyze Art through three stages. The first two stages focused on identifying the practical nature of the art and what the image represented for the people of the time. The third stage involved the symbolic significance of the image in relation to its cultural significance on the whole. Obviously without historical context, as we find with most African relics, this method poses major problems. We have very little evidence and knowledge of the culture or people that these objects originated from. Panofsky's methodology may have hindered the study of sub-Saharan Africa by trying to impose a western narrative onto nonwestern iconography. (2)

Progress began in the 60's, alongside the civil rights movement, that led academics to reexamine the way in which we perceive sub-Saharan African societies and their art. This change of attitude about African mind and culture opened up the field to an in depth study of the region.  Interpreting African Art can be tricky in that there is no context, but we have to remember that it doesn't have to fit into the western narrative to be a work of art. (2)

While researching for my last blog, I had a difficult time finding adequate information for my essay. I spent a lot of time looking at images that had little to no context. Finally, I found an interesting piece that was accompanied by articles, but the dates were listed as "unknown." Assuming this meant they were "ancient," I continued writing my piece. It wasn't until I was proofreading that I found a date which listed it as a nineteenth century piece. The reason I am sharing this story is because I recognize that there is a need for adequate study of this region. It's hard to believe that the "cradle of civilization" has held so little interest for scholars for so long. 

    Notes

    1. Dr. Peri Klemm, "The Reception of African Art in the West," Smarthistory, December 20, 2016, accessed November 2, 2018, https://smarthistory.org/the-reception-of-african-art-in-the-west/.

    2. Adams, Monni. "African Visual Arts from an Art Historical Perspective." African Studies Review 32, no. 2 (1989): 55-103. Accessed October 31, 2020. doi:10.2307/523970.