African Arts, Crafts and Culture

Our goal is to provide you with the best genuine African arts and crafts from different parts of Africa.

Africa is one of the most diverse continents, consisting of over fifty countries and more than two thousand languages spoken. Africa offers an amazingly rich cultural diversity. The arts and crafts created by these cultures reflect the beauty and the values that make Africa so unique.

The ancient and the modern co-exist side by side. Africa has been called the "birthplace of the human race." The oldest evidence of human-like creatures and people found anywhere in the world are the bones and other fossils discovered at many sites in eastern and southern Africa. From this evidence, most scientists have concluded that the earliest human beings lived about 2 million years ago in eastern Africa. The crude stone tools made by these people gave the Stone Age its name. In time, the Stone Age culture spread to other continents. The fertile soils of the Nile Valley supported some of the earliest and richest farming communities.

Sphinx

Cairo

The climate and the terrain cover the entire spectrum. From sahara to the tropical rain forests; the savanna plains to the volcanic mountains; the scotching desert heat in the north to the snowy winters in the south. As is the case in other world regions, human history in Africa is closely linked to the favorable distribution of natural resources--particularly good soils and an adequate water supply.The savanna regions of eastern Africa are literally home to the human species. Other well-watered savanna regions of the Continent, especially the Sudannic regions north of the great equatorial forest, have long supported diverse populations of farmers, herders, crafts people and traders. And, of course, the fertile Nile valley was the cradle of one of the earliest civilizations known, that of the ancient Egyptians.

Sahara Desert

Victoria Falls

Ceremonial sculptures, masks, crafts are produced by African tribal cultures, as well as by the African cultures of colonial and post-colonial periods. Generally African art means sub-Saharan art, with the cultures of Africa's northern parts typically referred to as Egyptian and North African. Making generalizations about the visual culture of any group of people is a crude endeavor, especially with a culture as diverse as Africa's.

In Africa, south of the Sahara, wood is the natural material for carving. In the 20th century sculpture in wood is still very much a living tradition. Examples from the 19th century have been preserved in reasonable number, largely by the efforts of collectors. But earlier work has crumbled irretrievably, eaten by ants or rotted by damp. Even so, the body of art surviving to us in this tradition is immensely rich. Tribal carving is done for a clear and practical purpose. A figure may represent an ancestor, destined to stand in a shrine. A mask may be intended for use by a shaman just once a year in a special dance. A post may be designed to prop up a chief's verandah or to form part of a palisade round his house. An elaborate chair is likely to be for the chief himself to sit on. All of them will be better if carved in a dramatic or propitious way. Whatever the reason for the range of tribal art, the result is an unrivalled display of the power of the imagination. The basic subject, as in western sculpture, is the human body. But the tribal sculptor is liberated from the straitjacket of realism.

Yoruba bronze sculpture

Fang mask

What people wear is usually dependent on their faith, culture, and the weather in their areas, or some combination of those. Generally though, Africans tend to favor durable, natural fibers, and clothing that is both useful and beautifully made. There has been alot of crossover in style influences between Africa and Asia. You are just as likely to see people wearing caftans in both regions. Silk is also popular in Africa for those who can afford it. Egyptian cotton is recognized as among the best, and is sought after in Asia and around the world.

Maasai Woman

Ndebele Women