African
Paintings and Art Prints
African
art prints and paintings provide a window for understanding the different
traditions in the African continent. Contrary to what many may think, there is a
distinctly wide variation of artistic approach across Africa. Traditional art
prints and paintings from say West Africa tend to be conspicuously different
from those made in Southern Africa. Generally however, African paintings and art
prints bear one similar pattern – they are colorful and dynamic.
These
days, with the convergence of knowledge and greater interchange between the
various cultures of the world, African artists increasingly borrow and invent
new trends towards enhancing their artistic works. But, such works still remain
uniquely African in context and appearance. A growing number of online stores now
deal in African paintings and art prints. You would also find some online
galleries dealing exclusively in African art works.
Growing
up in Africa and having spent the last four years in Europe, I have come to
notice something different about the way Africans dress, especially those who
live south of the Sahara desert. You see, unlike in Europe and the United States
where most clothes embody a few colors, traditional African dresses (and
especially those worn by women) tend to be very colorful and intricately
designed. In West African countries like Ghana, Benin and Nigeria, women put on
what is called a wrapper. It is an ankle-length piece of cloth that is tied
around the waist. A wrapper is never mono-colored but always designed with
patterns that symbolize animals, trees, sculptures or some specifically designed
patterns. The wrapper is more than a piece of cloth, for it can also be
categorized as a genre of African art prints.
Traditional
African paintings, which can also be obtained as art prints online, tend to
center around family life, the community, wildlife and nature. While in North
Africa, paintings tend to draw a lot on the Arabian culture, in countries south
of the Sahara, paintings draw more on individual traditions and these days, also
on other cultures of the world.
Link
to more articles on art prints and paintings.
Posters-ArtPrints-PictureFrames.com
thanks Kwame Kodjo for this article.
September
2004
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