Summary

The concept of Africa as an entity is a recent and largely artificial idea. Africa is made up of very diverse cultures, tribes, religions, traditions and geographies and it is constantly changing. In this thought provoking study of African art Bargna emphasises the need to connect individual items to ethnographic information with the aesthetic experience. It is important also, not to bring to the study of African art the trappings of the traditional artistic judgements with which Western art is viewed. The rich and varied production of the African continent is viewed and interpreted in terms of its close relationship with the world of the sacred, of myth and of religious ritual practices. The illustrations form a prime feature of the book. There are stunning photographs of masks, sculptures, textiles, ceramics and household and ritual objects which testify to the huge diversity of many different cultures all grouped under a geographical umbrella. These, as much as the original approach of the text, are a source of understanding and inspiration. AUTHOR: The author, Ivan Bargna, has travelled extensively in Europe making a special study of aesthetics and symbolism in the sculptural works of the Igbo and Yoruba ethnic groups. His father Giorgio Bargna (1934-1994) formed an important collection of African art in the course of many research trips from the 60s onwards. 113 colour & 192 b/w illustrations