A complete aesthetic and social examination of fifty representative and diverse African articles created by different cultures to communicate with ancestors, spirits, and gods.

Art and Oracle African Art and Rituals of Divination

Arts & Photography

LAGAMMA, Alisa

History & Criticism

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Pondering the origins of the world and their own ancestry, African societies often sought to provide answers to these and other perplexing concepts in their oral traditions, poetry, and art. The Bamana people of Mali, for example, attributed the invention of agriculture and their understanding of the earth, animals, and plants to a mythical hero called Chi Wara, shown in sculptural form as a roan antelope. The elegant Chi Wara headdresses were created in wood in male-female pairs and worn during agricultural ceremonies. 
This stimulating volume examines the Chi Wara headdress as an icon of African sculpture and presents forty examples of this well-known form. Major artistic traditions in other African societies-including the Dogon of Mali; the Yoruba of Nigeria; the Bwa, Bobo, Kurumba, and Mossi of Burkina Faso; the Kuba and Luba of the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and the Chokwe of Angola and Zambia-are also discussed in terms of the distinctive cultural perspectives and local traditions that inspired them. The masterworks featured and analyzed are drawn from public and private collections in the United States. 
This book is the catalogue for an exhibition that will be held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art from November 19, 2002, to April 13, 2003.

Genesis: Ideas of Origin in African Sculpture

Idealized pairings have been an enduring concern of sculptors across the African continent. This universal theme of duality is now examined in a handsome book that presents African sculptural masterpieces created in wood, bronze, terracotta, and beadwork from the twelfth to the twentieth centuries.
Drawn from thirty sub-Saharan African cultures, including those of the Dogon, Lobi, Baule, Senufo, Yoruba, Chamba, Jukun, Songye, and Sakalava, the sculptures tell much about each culture’s beliefs and social ideals. These artistic creations are astonishingly rich and diverse forms of expression. An essay written by Alisa LaGamma discusses thirty works, all of which are illustrated in color.

Echoing Images: Couples in African Sculpture (Metropolitan Museum of Art Series)

Sculpture

The Essential Art of African Textiles: Design Without End

This informative and beautiful volume sheds light on the enduring significance of textiles as a major form of aesthetic expression across Africa, relating long-standing cultural practices to recent creative developments. Some of the finest and oldest preserved examples of West African textile traditions are presented, and both their artistic and technical qualities are examined. Wrapped around the body, fashioned into garments, or displayed as hangings, these magnificent textiles include bold strip weavings and intricately patterned indigo resist-dyed cloths.The influence of African textiles on contemporary artists is also explored, featuring artworks by eight individuals who work in media as far-ranging as sculpture, painting, photography, video, and installation art. A monumental metal tapestry by the Ghanaian El Anatsui that pays tribute to traditional kente prestige cloth while constitu

Giuntini, Christine

Over the centuries, artists across sub-Saharan Africa have memorialized eminent figures in their societies using an astonishingly diverse repertoire of naturalistic and abstract sculptural idioms. Adopting complex aesthetic fromulations, they idealized their subjects but also added specific details—such as emblems of rank, scarification patterns, and elaborate coiffures—in order to evoke the individuals represented. Imbued with the essence of their formidable subjects, these works played an essential role in reifying ties with important ancestors at critical moments of transition. Often their transfer from one generation to the next was a prerequisite for conferring legitimacy upon the leaders who followed. The arrival of Europeans as traders, then as colonizers, led to the dislocation of many of these sculptures from their original sites, as well as from the contexts in which they were conceived; thus, today, they are seen primarily as timeless representations of generic archetypes. Heroic Africans reexamines the sculptures in terms of the individuals who inspired them and the cultural values that informed them, providing insight into the hidden meaning and inspiration behind these great artistic achievements. 
Author Alisa LaGamma considers the landmark sculptural traditions of the kingdoms of Ife and Benin, both in Nigeria; Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire's Akan chiefdoms; the Bangwa and Kom chiefdoms of the Cameroon Grassfields; the Chokwe cheifdoms of Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (D.R.C.); and the D.R.C's Luluwa, Kuba, and Hemba chiefdoms. More than 140 masterpieces created between the 12th and the early 20th century—complemented by maps, drawings, and excavation and ceremonial photographs—reveal the religious and aesthetic conventions that defined distinct regional genres.

Heroic Africans: Legendary Leaders, Iconic Sculptures

A Metropolitan Museum of Art Publication In many of sub-Saharan Africa's culturally diverse societies, divination rituals-and the creative forms of expression designed to advance these quests-continue to profoundly influence decisions that affect the future. The catalogue for an exhibition organized by the Rietberg Museum in Zurich and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, this publication marks the first time many of the classic icons of African art history have been considered as the products of a common source of inspiration, enabling the reader to appreciate the complex relationship between artistic imagination and ritual power. 
Exploring such divinatory systems as those of the Azande, Luba, Yaka, Yoruba, and Malagasy, Art and Oracle takes a cross-cultural look at 200 works, 50 pictured in full color, from the world's premier collections of African art, considering them both for their artistry and as mediums through which divine insights may be revealed. 
50 illustrations in full color, 8 1/2 x 11" ALISA LAGAMMA is assistant curator in the Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. JOHN PEMBERTON III is professor emeritus of African religion at Amherst College. 
EXHIBITION SCHEDULE The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkApr. 26-July 30, 2000

Art and Oracle: African Art and Rituals of Divination

Pemberton, John

HNA Books

Pondering the origins of the world and their own ancestry, African societies often sought to provide answers to these and other perplexing concepts in their oral traditions, poetry and art. The Bamana people of Mali, for example, attributed the invention of agriculture and their understanding of the earth, animals and plants to a mythical hero called Chi Wara, shown in sculptural form as a roan antelope. The elegant Chi Wara headdresses were created in wood in male-female pairs and worn during agricultural ceremonies. This volume examines the Chi Wara headdress as an icon of African sculpture and presents 40 examples of this well-known form. Major artistic traditions in other African societies - including the Dogon of Mali; the Yoruba of Nigeria; the Bwa, Bobo, Kurumba and Mossi of Burkina Faso; the Kuba and Luba of the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and the Chokwe of Angola and Zambia - are also discussed in terms of the distinctive cultural perspectives and local traditions that inspired them. The masterworks featured and analyzed are drawn from public and private collections in the United States.

Collections, Catalogs & Exhibitions

Idealized pairings have been an enduring concern of sculptors across the African continent. This universal theme of duality is now examined in a handsome book that presents African sculptural masterpieces created in wood, bronze, terracotta, and beadwork from the twelfth to the twentieth centuries.Drawn from thirty sub-Saharan African cultures, including those of the Dogon, Lobi, Baule, Senufo, Yoruba, Chamba, Jukun, Songye, and Sakalava, the sculptures tell much about each culture’s beliefs and social ideals. These artistic creations are astonishingly rich and diverse forms of expression. An essay written by Alisa LaGamma discusses thirty works, all of which are illustrated in color.

Echoing Images: Couples in African Sculpture

Heroic Africans: Legendary Leaders, Iconic Sculptures (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by LAGAMMA, Alisa. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by LAGAMMA, Alisa

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by LAGAMMA, Alisa. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Art and Oracle African Art and Rituals of Divination

Genesis: Ideas of Origin in African Sculpture

Echoing Images: Couples in African Sculpture (Metropolitan Museum of Art Series)

The Essential Art of African Textiles: Design Without End

Heroic Africans: Legendary Leaders, Iconic Sculptures

Genesis: Ideas of Origin in African Sculpture

Art and Oracle: African Art and Rituals of Divination

Genesis: Ideas of Origin in African Sculpture

Echoing Images: Couples in African Sculpture

Heroic Africans: Legendary Leaders, Iconic Sculptures (Metropolitan Museum of Art)