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CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
ARTS OF AFRICA FROM
THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY
TO THE PRESENT
29
Multiple Choice
1. Which of the following movements arose across Africa after World War I?
A. feminist
B. religious
C. Marxist
D. nationalist
2. Nankani women decorate their adobe architecture with horizontal molded ridges, called
yidoor, expressing
A. cultural identity.
B. good wishes for the family.
C. the family’s wealth.
D. solidarity in the community.
3. One aspect of the Bwa initiation ceremony includes instructing the initiates about the world of
A. written history.
B. nature
C. economics.
D. politics.
4. What do the bent knees of the nkisi nkonde suggest?
A. alertness
B. power
C. athleticism
D. fearfulness
5. The stillness and pose of the Blolo Bla (Female Spirit Spouse) (Fig. 29-13) suggest that the
woman is capable of
A. being rational.
B. reaching the afterlife.
C. expressing remorse.
D. living piously.
6. Yoruba palaces had elaborately decorated
A. lintels.
B. cantilevering.
C. corbelling.
D. woodcarvings.
7. Why is the display of African art in museums problematic?
A. According to tradition, many masks should not be viewed by outsiders.
B. Their full meaning can only be understood in the context of ritual performance.
C. Most masks are made of ephemeral materials and deteriorate rapidly.
D. The works are supposed to be ritually destroyed or disassembled.
8. Who sacked and burned the Benin Royal Palace in 1897?
A. the Portuguese
B. the British
C. the Swiss
D. the Russians
9. Which of the following applies to the black sowei masks worn in Sande initiation rites?
A. It is worn by the initiates as a sign of their transformation.
B. It symbolizes the ideal of masculine beauty in the culture.
C. It is worn by the person responsible for preparing girls for adulthood.
D. It compares the transformation to womanhood to slavery and servitude. .
10. Which statement applies to the kente cloth produced by the Asante culture?
A. It is a modern tradition in the culture.
B. It was originally used for trade.
C. It was traditionally woven by males.
D. It is made entirely of gold.
11. The Yoruba Palace Door by Olowe of Ise (Fig. 29-8) depicts
A. a common Yoruba initiation ritual.
B. the king receiving a colonial administrator.
C. portraits of the royal family.
D. the creation story of the Yoruba people.
12. African artists aimed to make their objects convey
A. realistic figures.
B. the intangible.
C. the natural world.
D. colonial themes.
13. Until the kings of the Asante were forced into power sharing with the British beginning in the
mid-1800s, they ruled from their capital city of
A. Kumasi.
B. Nsheng.
C. Benin.
D. Sirigu.
14. Who succeeded the self-proclaimed Bamum king Njoya after his exile by the French?
A. his uncle
B. his brother
C. his wife
D. his son
15. How can the ndop of Mishe miShyaang maMbul be identified?
A. his mouth
B. his forehead
C. his hand
D. his dress
16. What did European traders look to in the nineteenth century after the trade in human slaves
became less profitable and less accepted?
A. traditional sculpture
B. natural resources
C. kente cloth
D. industrial products
17. In the Sakalava language, what does hazo mean?
A. house
B. idol
C. wood
D. blue
18. What was the last country to be freed from colonial rule?
A. Djibouti
B. Seychelles
C. Angola
D. Ghana
19. What media allowed African artists to reclaim their own image from the colonial gaze?
A. collage
B. installation
C. painting
D. photography
20. What does Tshibumba Kanda Matulu use in his painting Tombeau Sans Cercueil (Tomb
without a Coffin) (Fig. 29-22) that embodies his African roots?
A. linear perspective
B. hierarchical scale
C. textural variety
D. traditional media
21. What does the man in Aimé Mpane’s Congo: Shadow of a Shadow (Fig. 29-23) personify?
A. the museum
B. the spirit world
C. the colonialists
D. the country
22. What culture informs the work of Wangechi Mutu in Le Noble Sauvage (Fig. 29-24)?
A. Egyptian
B. Greek
C. British
D. American
23. The work of Zanele Muholi has always been part of her political activism, geared toward
raising awareness of
A. education reform.
B. global warming.
C. civil rights.
D. animal rights.
24. How did the women of the Sande society in London adjudicate the Sowei Mask from the
Sherbro District (Fig. 29-16) from its colonial history?
A. They named it.
B. They burned it.
C. They cleaned it.
D. They transported it.
25. The Fang people use what type of wooden sculpture as a point of mediation between
ancestors and the living?
A. temple shaman
B. twin figure
C. tomb guardian
D. reliquary guardian
Short Answer
1. How does Yinka Shonibare MBE combine European and African imagery into his work
Scramble for Africa (Fig. 29-25)?
2. What qualities of Lidded Vessel (Fig. 29-11) seem to be inspired by the burgeoning trade with
Europe?
3. How were the earliest collections of African art displayed?
4. How are Nankani adobe homes made?
5. Describe the aesthetic qualities of Seydou Keïta’s photographs.
6. What was the Berlin Conference?
7. How is modernity defined on the African continent, and what has it meant for the arts there?
8. What significance do Bwa masks have in African art?
9. How does African art portray the spirits of community leaders and others?
10. How is contemporary African art different than tradition-based African art?
Essay
1. Discuss the prominence of the wood figure in African art and its relationship to power.
Provide examples.
2. How does traditional African art differ from Western art of the nineteenth century?
3. How has photography and new media influenced African artists?
4. Discuss Amir Nour’s work Grazing at Shendi (Fig. 29-1) in terms of form, iconography, and
style.
