If you did not know the history of slavery and black exploitation, what would you expect when walking into a European museum? Portraits of the past Queens and Kings of England and actual snippets of European culture, right? Would it not be a shocker to come face to face with the masquerade masks and bronze of the Benin kingdom and the golden kingship stool from the Asante kingdom of Ghana?
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When the colonizers came, the same arts, sculptures, and symbols of the African kingdoms, which they claimed were barbaric and idolatrous, were taken from the true owners only to be put on display in European homes and museums. It would be safe to say these artifacts were looted due to their sheer beauty and inestimable value.
Made in Africa, arts in recent times have been looked down on. With the advent of the new religions, people who are bold enough to create art pieces that depict Africanness are tagged and labeled traditionalists. To the people who treat them with such disdain, traditionalists are demonic, and devils possess anything from them, hence, the segregation.
It is high time we, Africans, realize what we truly are. Africans in every sense of the word. And everything we do and purchase should depict our roots.
Statistics show that African art has become a good investment in recent years. What’s more? 90% of African art is outside Africa. It leaves us with the question, who buys African art?
The answer is plausible. Foreigners. Knowing how significant of an investment African art is and how much monetary value it could bring, it is auctioned at outrageous prices outside the continent.
Even worse, the Africans, in turn, who fail to see how valuable their cultural heritage is, have imitations of Michelangelo and Van Gogh(none of which are Africans) lined up on their walls.
Some African artists have shown how good they are at what they do.
Quinn Cale
Only recently, I found out about Augmented Reality art during one of my scrolls on the TikTok app, and the one person who exposed it to me was a black creative.
Augmented Reality art has digital technology infused into paintings. Imagine looking at a painting of Yemoja, the African Goddess of the water, and in that picture, it’s a beautiful day, and she is immersed in the water from the waist down. It is just a regular painting, but suddenly, you can watch it like a movie. You can see how water drips out of the goddess’s hair as the wind moves through it. Amazing, right? This is what Quinn Cale does. You can go through her social media and see her work for yourself.
Art for the creative is a passionate way life shows itself to people, and art is her life. It says on her website that her mission is “to create unique one of a kind art that transcends times”.
Wangechi Mutu
This Kenyan is known for her feminine pieces. She explores the themes of gender constructs, beauty, power, and even cultural trauma. She had made herself a career in New York for over 20 years. Her works have been displayed in museums both in Africa and internationally.
In conclusion, African art’s rich history and beauty are marred by a legacy of colonization and exploitation. Despite recent recognition and investment, a significant portion of African art remains outside the continent, reflecting a disconnect with cultural heritage. African artists like Quinn Cale and Wangechi Mutu break barriers with innovative expressions, urging Africans to embrace their roots and preserve art’s invaluable legacy.
