Dogon Seated Ancestor Couple

For WEDNESDAY 2-2

One page on this work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
And another page. 

Related essay on "Couples in Art" (also Metropolitan MoA)

Kongo Nail Figure (nkisi n'kondi)

For MONDAY 1-31:


Mangaaka Power Figure: Nkisi N'kondi at the Metropolitan Museum 

An article on the ritual use of the Mangaaka Figure

And another example at the Metropolitan Museum

Six different ones at the Brooklyn Museum

And a dog-form one at the World Museum in Liverpool

(Think about how to answer the questions -- especially "what is it for?")


and Coming Up:  on Wednesday, Dogon Ancestor Figures, and on Friday, akuabas.

Art-Thought Experiment: Ikegobo

Imagine:  if a person of power and authority in our own culture had an ikegobo, what would it look like?  What would be on it?  What would it be made of?  What would President Obama's ikegobo be like?  What would Steve Jobs's look like?  Paul McCartney's?  Stella McCartney's?  

Have fun.

P.S.  This is not an assignment!  It's just a way to study.

The Altar to the Hand (or Ikegobo).  

The one in our book (and shown to the right) is in the collection of the British Museum.  Read about it here.  

Other examples at the Metropolitan Museum in New York:  

• Oba with Animals (Ikegobo of Ezomo Ehenua) 
• Altar to the Hand (Ikegobo) 
• and another one, made of wood

Remember to consider how purpose, materials, imagery (iconography), and aesthetic values all relate to one another.  

Benin Bronzes and Ancestor Shrines

A Benin Royal Ancestor Shrine like the one shown here is not one art object, but a display involving a lot of specific art objects as well as ritual.

Useful resources on Benin and its art:

This page at the University of Pennsylvania's Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology is exceptionally good -- make sure to read this one!

The Pitt Rivers Museum (Oxford) also has a good article about the Court Art of Benin

And the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History (Metropolitan Museum of Art) has a lot of useful stuff:

• an overview of Benin & other nations in the region.
• an article on lost-wax casting (the casting technique used for Benin metalwork)
• an article on the history of Benin
• an article on Idia, the first Queen-Mother of Benin

Oni Figure from Ife-Ife

Ife (Metropolitan Museum)

Another example at the British Museum

Another one at the Brooklyn Museum

ALSO: don't neglect the side material in your book:  read the three boxes on "Dating African Art and Identifying African Artists" (p. 187); the one on p. 189 about "Art and Leadership in Africa" and (very important) the one on "Idealized Naturalism at Ife-Ife" on page 190.

Nok Heads

Nok Terracottas (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Also -- a lot of Nok artifacts have ended up in Western museums and personal collections, but the business of selling Nok artifacts to collectors is really controversial. Here are a couple links that show what I mean.

The Rape of Nok and Kwatakwashi: the crisis in Nigerian Antiquities (University of Cambridge)

UNESCO, Nok terracotta and the Met (Elginism blog)

Nok Heads for Sale (Hamill Gallery)

Daily Schedule for Weeks 2 & 3

Week 2:  African Gods & Kings 
M:  Ife-Ife Oni figures (10-6) (Chapter 10, pp. 191-196 would be a good start)
W: Benin Altarpiece (11-8) 
F:  Benin ikegobo

Week 3: African Power Figures
M: Kongo nkisi nkondi (11-6) 
W: Dogon ancestor couple (11-6) 
F: Ghana akuaba (11-10)

The All Blacks (New Zealand's national rugby squad) perform a haka before an international match.  The intersection of traditional and contemporary; of NonWestern and Western.

Course Syllabus

Course: FA 210: ART OF THE WORLD (spring term 2011)                                                  

Instructor: Dr. Warren Olin-Ammentorp                                                        

Contact: 655-7102   wolin@cazcollege.edu

Office: 13 Nickerson St – 2^nd floor middle office                                   

Office Hrs: TR 1-2:30 (and by appointment)

Course Description / Teaching & Learning Goals:  This course presents a broad introductory survey of non-Western art and art-making: painting, sculpture, craft, and architecture from regions such as Africa, India, Southeast Asia, China, Japan, the Islamic world, and Oceania.  Students in this course will learn to: a) identify and discuss art works from various non-Western cultures in terms of purpose, materials, techniques, aesthetic principles and cultural values; and b) discuss why and how awareness on non-Western art informs Western notions of art and beauty. 

All-College Competencies:  This course addresses and will advance students’ mastery of the following competency areas:  Visual Literacy; Cultural Literacy; Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving. 

Teaching & Required Work: This course will be based on a key topic system.  Each week the course will cover a broad topic through general lecture and discussion of specific examples of the topic.  Students will demonstrate basic knowledge (identification, description) and an ability to discuss and compare (analysis) specific works through written exercises and examinations.  In general, students will apply and answer the following key course questions to everything we study in the course: What is it? Who made it?  What is it for? Why is it made like that? What do we learn from it?

Final course grades will be assessed according to these percentages:

§  75% for 5 exercises – 3 due during the term and 2 due at the final examination meeting

§  25 % for 1 broad general essay – set & written at the final examination meeting

§  participation and general compliance with course requirements

Exercises are written reports that discuss a specific work of art or type of work.  Each exercise must answer each of the key course questions, in appropriate depth and detail.  Each exercise must be typewritten, use clear and correct language (including technical terms) and provide references as necessary.  Students may not repeat topics – although comparison and contrast is welcome and useful, all exercises must be written on different topics.  Thus, although students will be responsible for demonstrating deep knowledge of only five different key topics from the dozen or so covered in the course, their exercises should demonstrate a broad awareness of the themes & issues covered in the whole course.

Text:  Gardner’s Art Through the Ages: Non-Western Perspectives

Proposed Course Topics & Schedule: 

Week 1:  introductory concepts

Week 2:  African gods and kings

Week 3:  African power figures

Week 4:  representations of the Buddha

Week 5:  Buddhist temples

Week 6:  representations of Hindu deities

Week 7:  Chinese art 1: concepts & materials 

Week 8:  Chinese art 2: landscape painting

Week 9:  Islamic decorative art

Week 10: the mosque

Week 11: the Taj Mahal

Week 12: Japanese temples and temple gardens

Week 13:  wabi-sabi and the Japanese tea ceremony

Week 14:  Japanese representative art

Week 15: Aboriginal Australian painting