Cloth, dress, and art patronage in Africa / Judith Perani and Norma H. Wolff.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Perani, Judith.

Contributor:

Wolff, Norma Hackleman, 1933-

Series:

Dress, body, culture 1360-466X

Dress, body, culture, 1360-466X

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Art patronage--Africa.

Art patronage.

Clothing and dress--Africa.

Clothing and dress.

Africa.

Physical Description:

vi, 217 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Berg, 1999.

Summary:

Drawing examples from a wide range of African cultures, this ground-breaking book expands the continuing discourse on the aesthetic and cultural significance of cloth, body and dress in Africa and moves beyond contextual analysis to consider the broader application of cloth and dress to art forms in other media. In blending the concerns of Art History and Anthropology, the authors focus on the art patronage systems that stimulate production, consumption, commodification and cultural meaning, and emphasize the overriding importance of cloth to aesthetic and cultural expression in African societies. Through this approach they reveal complex processes that involve a series of actors, including textile artists, commissioning-patrons and consumer-patrons, all of whom shape cloth and dress traditions. These individuals not only influence production, but are a key to understanding the cultural meaning of cloth and dress and, by extension, the body in Africa.

Contents:

Part 1 The Impact of Patronage on the Arts of Africa

1 Art Patronage as a Generator of Cloth and Dress 9

2 Cloth and Dress as a Mirror of Culture in Africa 25

3 Art Patron Roles 49

4 Leadership Arts in State Societies 81

Part 2 The Development of Hausa, Nupe and Yoruba Cloth and Dress Traditions

5 Historical Context of Leadership, Trade and Art Patronage 105

6 Patterns of Production and Consumption in Nineteenth-Century Luxury Cloth Traditions 131

7 Continuity and Change in Twentieth-Century Cloth Traditions 153

8 The Fashionable World of the Yoruba 171

Postscript: To Put on Cloth 189.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 193-208) and index.

ISBN:

1859732909

185973295X

OCLC:

41283381