Review
"...an important contribution to our understanding of precolonial
intellectual history in Africa." David Newbury, American Historical
Review
Book Description
John Yoder chronicles the history of the Kanyok, a people from the southern
savanna of Zaire, from before 1500 until their incorporation into the Congo
Free State in the 1890s. By analyzing their oral traditions, myths, and
legends, the author describes the political and cultural development of a
people who, before 1891, had no written records, and whose history has
previously been confined to the stale recitation of wars and succession
struggles that characterize many existing books on pre-colonial Africa. Yoder
sets his work firmly within the larger context of the southern savanna by
extending his investigations to the traditions of neighboring peoples, in
particular to the Luba and Lunda, whose empires once dominated the region. In
this way, he demonstrates how the same stories and ideas circulated over a
vast area but were continually adapted to local circumstances.
Buy books on African Art
Having a good african art book library is the first step to have a good African art collection, since you can't select good pieces, if you don't know how they look like.
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In this section: |
Use the above Amazon books search box with keywords like african art, african masks, or the tribes you like, Yoruba, Fang, african beads, museum +name, or Asin book nr. , etc... or choose among some of the books I enjoyed and recommend below. With good books you will become a better collector and be able to recognize the pieces. David Norden |
Just one ONE and only book?
find out about The Tribal Arts of Africa
Tribal arts is very
cheap
Just one recommended african art magazine :
Just one website: http://www.africanartclub.com
Must have at Amazon
http://africanfaces.info/
This book won an Italian design price- FEDRIGONI Award publishing hard cover
2009. Some 700 publications were submitted for this contest and an independent
international jury of professional publishers and designers conferred this
prestigious International Award to African Faces - the first time ever to an Art
book dedicated to tribal arts. read more a http://african-arts.info/african_faces.htm
African faces SPECIAL OFFER
Fowler Museum at UCLA books these
books published by the Fowler are from good quality, and affordably priced.
 |
Photographing
Arts, Crafts & Collectibles: Take Great Digital Photos for
Portfolios, Documentation, or Selling on the Web (A Lark Photography Book) by
Steve Meltzer Buy new: $16.47 / Used from: $13.52 |
Man Ray, African Art and the Modernist Lens, The Phillips Collection in Washington
Click
to visit the Amazon page about Man Ray, African Art, and the Modernist
Lens...
Even more related articles, vintage pictures, a video, audio tour and mp3 explanations about the objects and photos in this exhibition by Monica Visona, Wendy Grossmann, Letty Bonnell , Jessica Martinez … and the address where to go to visit this exhibition are in the African Art Club. Also Elsa Smithgall, associate curator at the Phillips and in-house curator for the exhibition, said that the show offers a “very special look at the interconnectedness between objects and photography, and objects and the history of modern art.” and answers some questions also inside the African Art Club members at:
man
ray african art and the modernist lens
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Some more basic books I recommend having:
Chokwe (Visions of Africa) 
~ Boris Wastiau
Pende:
Visions of Africa
~ Z.S. Strother
Lobi: Visions of Africa
~ Daniela Bognolo
Bamana:
Visions of Africa
~ Jean-Paul Colleyn
Luba: Visions of Africa
~ Mary Roberts
Punu: Visions of Africa Series (Visions of Africa)
~ Louis Perrois
Fang (Visions of Africa)
~ Louis Perrois
The
Art of Southern Africa
~ Sandra Klopper
The Art of Southeast Africa (Hic Sunt Leones series)
~ Sandra Klopper
Medusa: The African Sculpture of Enchantment
~ Boris Wastiau
The Tribal Arts of Africa
~ Jean-Baptiste Bacquart. If you can only take one book on a desert island about
African Art take this one
"Primitivism" in 20th Century Art: Affinity of the
Tribal and the Modern
~ Paul Gauguin This books shows the influence of the "primitive" arts
on all western artists by comparing the influences...
Africa: The Art of a Continent (African Art)
~ Tom Phillips one of the best african art shows in history, this catalogues
shows pieces from all around Africa
Ibeji: The Cult of Yoruba Twins (Hic Sunt Leones series)
~ John Pemberton III
Mami Wata: Arts for Water Spirits in Africa and Its
Diasporas
~ Henry John Drewal
Art and Oracle African Art and Rituals of Divination
~ Alisa LaGamma
The Cutting Edge: West Central African 19th Century Throwing
Knives in the National Museum of Ethnology Leiden
~ Peter Westerdijk, A. M. Schmidt. Some XIXth century weapons in the Leiden
Museum
Sleeping Beauties: The Jerome L. Joss Collection of African
Headrests at UCLA
~ William J. Dewey. One of the only books related on headrests. Many
illustrations, fine quality.
African Costumes and Textiles: From the Berbers to the Zulus
~ Anne-Marie Bouttiaux
Ecuador: The Secret Art of Precolumbian Ecuador
~ Daniel Klein
Pre-Columbian America: Ritual Arts of the New World
~ Octavio Paz
New Ireland: Art of the South Pacific
~ Michael Gunn
New Guinea Art: Masterpieces of the Jolika Collection from
Marcia And John Friede
~ John Friede
| Beyond Primitivism: Indigenous Religious Traditions and Modernity |
“NAABAS”
- TRADITIONAL CHIEFS FROM BURKINA FASO
Traditional chiefs and kings, choosen from a diversity of the cultural entities of the country (Mossi, Lobi, Bobo, Gan, Bissa, ..)
Hardcover / 245 X 320 mm / 88 pp / 53 illustrations
+ one original photograph
I
distribute myself the Who's
Who in African Art, from Guy van Rijn , 1kg300g (+/- 500 pages) EDITION
2005 is out.
I am the official distributor for this book, you won't find it on Amazon.
Tribes:
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The
Royal Arts of Africa Author: Suzanne Preston Blier; 272 pages, 206 illustrations of art from the kingdoms of west and central Africa, with some 140 in full colour Many traditional African cultures, especially in west and central Africa, were ruled by complex hierarchical kingdoms. As Blier (African Vodun, LJ 4/1/95) documents so clearly, those royal systems were major patrons of art largely because the visual messages imbedded in their regalia and palace objects supported their power, position, and prestige. An introductory chapter analyzes the diverse roles that African kings played, thus providing the iconographical framework that explains the richness of Africa's royal arts. That is followed by five chapters focusing on those cultures (Benin, Yoruba, Dahomey, Asante, Cameroon, Grasslands, Kongo, and Kuba) whose kingship systems and associated objects represent some of Africa's greatest artistic achievements. |
| Richly illustrated with over 200 photographs, most in color, Blier's text is so readable and well organized that it can be enjoyed by a wide audience. Highly recommended for academic and public libraries.A Eugene C. Burt, Art Inst. of Seattle Lib. |
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The
Kanyok of Zaire : An Institutional and Ideological History to 1895 (African
Studies) Author: John C. Yoder; Buy New: $29.99 |
Books on Noks:
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The
Birth of Art in Africa: Nok Statuary in Nigeria Author: Bernard De Grunne; Buy New: $29.95 1999, ISBN: 2876602423 Book Description: HARDCOVER VILO 1998. D *In
Nigeria. This volume presents sixty-five illustrations of terra-cotta
sculptures from the Nok, Sokoto and Katsina cultures of Nigeria. These
objects, dating from 600 BC to 300 AD, form the oldest traces of the
remarkable sculptural tradition from sub-Saharan Africa. Color/b&w illus;
maps. 121p. |
Fagg, B: Nok terracottas (Lagos, 1977), no. 59, pl. 59. Published by Ethnographica for the National Museum, Lagos (1977), 40 pages.
Exhibitions:
South
of the Sahara: Selected Works of African Art Constantine Petridis;
Buy New: $18.90
 |
Art
from Africa : Long Steps Never Broke a Back Pamela McClusky; Paperback; Buy New: $26.56 catalog from the exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum |
Favorite readings on African Art:
| The
Scramble for Art in Central Africa
Enid Schildkrout; Buy New: $24.99 The contributors to this volume trace the life history of artifacts that were brought to Europe and America from Congo toward the end of the nineteenth century, and became the subjects of museum displays. They also present fascinating case studies of the pioneering collectors, including such major figures as Frobenius and Torday, discuss the complex and sensitive issues involved in the business of "collecting," and consider how these objects were used in the invention of Africa by the West.
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| Tribal
Art Traffic: A Chronicle of...
One of my favorite books, when it comes to explain the behaviors of African art dealers, collectors, and museum curators, and collectors anthropology. David Norden read more about Tribal art Traffic African
runners find out about African runners
find out about The Tribal Arts of Africa |
More specialized:
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Literature:
It has nothing to do with African Art, but is one of the most funny word definitions dictionary I have ever read. Since it is in the public domain, I made a website about it, read details and URL at:
Devil's
Dictionary Author: Ambrose Bierce
