Discover the world of African tribal art at Absola…

Exquisite and unique pieces that showcase the superb craftsmanship of Africa’s provinces and embody the essence of the African spirit.

African art is one of the highest expressions of human culture, which brings us continual refreshment and adds to the artistic heritage of all humanity.

The masks and carvings of Africa are "power objects." They provide access to an invisible world inhabited by the divinities, spirits and ghosts that are held in African cosmogony. They are used in the course of religious rituals and ceremonies to establish communication between human beings and the spiritual world.

Art objects are made for celebrations of "rites of passage" - to celebrate birth, life and death - the cycles of life. Art may show respect for ancestors or the "creator" - or may celebrate a plentiful harvest.

The interest in African art is greater now than ever before. Modern art is often considered to have taken its beginnings from the day in 1907 when Pablo Picasso visited the Musee d'Ethnographic in the Palais du Trocadero.

‘When I first went to the old Trocadero…. The masks weren't just like any other pieces of sculpture. Not at all. They were magic things…. I too believe that everything is unknown…. I understood what the Negroes use their sculptures for…. Les Demoiselles d'Avignon must have come to me that very day…'

The major types of art produced in Africa are masks, statues, furniture, textiles, pottery, baskets, beadwork, and metalwork. Most objects that are sculpted or shaped—masks and statues, for example—are created chiefly by men and depict human or animal forms. Two-dimensional art such as textile design or painted decoration is generally produced by women. The history of African art and architecture spans a vast period, beginning as early as 25,500 BC and continuing to the present. African art does not constitute a single tradition. Africa is an enormous continent with hundreds of cultures that have their own languages, religious beliefs, political systems, and ways of doing things. Each culture produces its own distinctive art and architecture, with variations in materials, intentions, and results. Whereas some cultures excel in carving wood, others are known for casting objects in metal. In one culture a decorated pot might be used for cooling water, while in another culture a similar pot is used in ritual ceremonies.

Furniture

Stools and headrests are the traditional forms of furniture in Africa. Stools, like other household items, can have both everyday and spiritual functions. Carved out of wood, some stools are very elaborate in design, especially when intended for a ceremony. The Luba people of central Africa produce caryatid stools, in which a male or female figure carved out of wood supports the stool’s seat. These stools appear only at the king’s investiture (taking office) ceremonies. On most Luba stools, a kneeling female caryatid represents the owner’s important female ancestors. Among the Ashanti of Ghana, a subgroup of the Akan people, there are both sacred and domestic stools. The most sacred stool of all is the Golden Stool, which is a symbol of the Ashanti nation. No one is allowed to sit on the Golden Stool; instead, it is enshrined on its own chair. The Ashanti valued their domestic or personal stools highly because they believed a person’s spirit was absorbed into the stool each time that person sat on it. When not in use, the stool was placed on its side so that no one else could use it. A typical Ashanti stool consists of a curved seat with an intricately carved support that indicated the owner’s social status. Wooden headrests, used instead of a pillow to support the head and neck during sleep, have been an important household item in much of Africa. Often carved elaborately, they look like miniature stools with a curved platform for the base of the head atop a decoratively carved support. Because they elevated the head, headrests also protected the elaborate hairstyles of men and women during sleep. Among the Shona of southern Africa, headrests carved with geometric designs served an additional function: facilitating communication with ancestor spirits. In Shona belief, a man who dreamed was visiting his ancestors. Today, only Shona diviners (people with special spiritual powers) use headrests for this purpose.

Art and Ritual

Belief in the supernatural has traditionally played an important role in many African societies. This belief incorporates elements of magic (belief in the mystic potency of certain persons or objects), animism (belief in the existence of spirits of several kinds), and religion (belief in the existence of gods and goddesses who must be appeased through rituals). Rituals are meant to exert control over the uncertainties of life by harnessing positive forces from ancestors, gods, or other spirits and by limiting negative forces. The performance of these rituals calls for special objects, including masks, headdresses, and statues. Many ritual objects are believed to house powerful spirits or to provide a means of communication with such spirits.

Masks

Masks are worn during festivals, celebrations, and ceremonies whose purposes are to cleanse, honour, entertain, initiate, or bless. A mask serves both to disguise and to protect the wearer, who is most often male, as he performs in dances or theatrical skits. Most masks are carved of wood, although some are made of cloth and other materials. They may be decorated with paint, beads, cloth, or raffia. The objects are made of wood, bronze, copper, silver, brass, and fired clay. The collection includes ritual and ceremonial masks, statues, royal beds and utensils, healing art works and power mediums and vectors of good omens and repellents of dangerous charms. The collection is also rich in traditionally hand-woven fabric, hand-embroidered cloth, mud cloth, tie-dyed fabric, batik, and beaded objects. Bamboo and raffia works also abound in various traditional forms, both ancient and modern.