Narrative wisdom and African arts / edited by Nichole N. Bridges.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Beaujean-Baltzer, Gaëlle, author.

Curnow, Kathy, author.

Grootaers, Jan-Lodewijk, author.

Maniacky, Jacky, author.

Nzewi, Ugochukwu-Smooth C., author.

Ola, Yomi, author.

Quarcoopome, Nii O., author.

Schaeffer, Elyse Dianne, author.

Sukop, Sylvia, author.

Contributor:

Bridges, Nichole N., editor, author.

St. Louis Art Museum, host institution.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Art, African--Themes, motives--Exhibitions.

Art, African.

Art, African--Exhibitions.

Narrative art--Africa, Sub-Saharan--Exhibitions.

Narrative art.

Physical Description:

240 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), map, portraits ; 29 cm

Place of Publication:

Saint Louis : Saint Louis Art Museum ; Munich : Hirmer Publishers, [2024]

Summary:

"Narrative Wisdom and African Arts explores ways in which historical and contemporary African arts make visible narratives rooted in collective and individual memory and knowledge. Historical works made by artists across sub-Saharan Africa during the 13th to 20th centuries dialogue with contemporary works by African artists working around the globe. Acknowledging intersections between certain historical arts and oral traditions, Narrative Wisdom and African Arts surveys assorted visual modes and motives of arts that facilitate, document, reinforce, or critique narratives concerning the legitimacy of leaders, memory of place, prescriptions for healing and destiny, and enduring ancestral wisdoms"-- Provided by publisher.

"How African visual arts intersect with oral traditions and memory.Narrative Wisdom and African Arts explores how historical and contemporary African arts make visible narratives rooted in collective and individual memory and knowledge. Historical works made by artists across sub-Saharan Africa during the thirteenth to twentieth centuries dialogue with contemporary works by African artists working around the globe. This is the first book to offer a comparative examination of intersections between African arts and narrative across expansive genres, cultures, periods, and contexts of patronage. More than two hundred color images explore an extensive array of media including sculpture in wood, ivory, metal, textiles, works on paper, photography, painting, and time-based media works. Acknowledging intersections between certain historical arts and oral traditions, Nichole N. Bridges surveys assorted visual modes and motives of arts that facilitate, document, reinforce, or critique narratives concerning the legitimacy of leaders, memory of place, prescriptions for healing and destiny, and enduring ancestral wisdom. "-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction / Nichole N. Bridges, Saint Louis Art Museum

Part One: Temp/oralities

Gosette Lubondo and the Restless Ghosts of Time / Sylvia Sukop, Washington University in St. Louis

Ties That Bind: Blending Contemporary Art and Historical African Art / Smooth Nzewi, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, and Emeka Ogboh, artist

Sonic Visions

Orality and Objects: Models for Understanding / Jacky Maniacky, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Belgium

Speaking Art: Revisiting the Verbal-Visual Nexus in Akan and Ghanaian Art Studies / Nii O. Quarcoopome, Detroit Institute of Arts

Part Two: Leadership

The Party Line and the People's Parables: Leadership Arts Shaping Narrative / Nichole N. Bridges, Saint Louis Art Museum

Of Gbẹ́gigbẹ́gi, Gbẹ́nàgbẹ́nà, and Gbẹ́nugbẹ́nu: Yoruba Sculpture as Portals of Narrative Wisdom / Yomi Ola, Spelman College, Atlanta

Narrative Resonance through the Centuries: Esigie's Youthful Challenges on Benin's Throne / Kathy Curnow, Cleveland State University

Artists from Abomey, Artworks from Dahomey: From Language to Image / Gaëlle Beaujean, Musée du quai Branly

Jacques Chirac, Paris

Part Three: Destinies

Divination as Narrative: The Role of Artworks in Oracular Discourse / Jan-Lodewijk Grootaers, independent scholar and curator

Graphic Scripts for Healing

Love

Let Me Count the Ways / Elyse Dianne Schaeffer, Saint Louis Art Museum

Grounded Narratives / Elyse Dianne Schaeffer, Saint Louis Art Museum.

Notes:

"This book is published in conjunction with the exhibition Narrative Wisdom and African Arts presented at the Saint Louis Art Museum from October 19, 2024, to February 16, 2025."--Colophon.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

On the occasion of an exhibition held at the Saint Louis Art Museum, October 19, 2024 - February 16, 2025.

ISBN:

9783777443737

3777443735

9780891780090

0891780092

OCLC:

1419439973