The Northern Hemisphere has long looked at the art of the Southern Hemisphere and equatorial regions as a collection of curios or travel trophies illustrating the essentially barbarous nature of its creators. Slowly such views are changing as more effort is put to understanding the individual works of art and their context in the societies that produced them. Art historian Meyer has attempted to integrate over 200 color photos together with a general text giving an overview of the role of the arts in various African cultures.

  The preparation of a book on the arts of Black Africa inevitably poses a delicate question of balance between ethnology and aesthetics, two equally essential elements.

  An exclusively aesthetic approach to African arts would exclude much of their significance and the full range of their humanity, just as Europeans ignorant of the Bible's full narrative richness would lose much of the value and beauty of the tympanum of a Norman cathedral or a Renaissance Descent from the Cross. In Black Africa too,in order to experience the full beauty of a work we must understand its origins and its aims, its mythic sense for the African who created it and for those who experienced it.Without that understanding, the work is greatly diminished.

  Although artists from the early 20th century - the Fauves, the Cubists, Matisse, Vlaminck, Picasso and Juan Gris - were the first to appreciate the beauty and interest of certain "Negro Art" statuettes, without previous ethnological knowledge, how can we be sure that their view of such works was comprehensive? Surely they were primarily seeking the solution to certain problems of dealing with form. And, conversely, would notions of ethnology have hindered their appreciation? Would not such knowledge have given them more direct access to the work in its deepest essentials and its totality?

Introduction

Ⅰ.Terracotta, a survivor from the hidden past

Ⅱ. Bronze and ivory, proud possessions of great kings

Ⅲ. Art from the Royal Courts of Cameroon

Ⅳ. Masks and dances bringing myths to life

Ⅴ. Ancestral statues and representations of spirits

Ⅵ. Reliquaries to conciliate occult forces

Ⅶ. Large and small fetishes

Ⅷ. Warriors and hunters

Ⅸ. The dignity of Black womanhood

Ⅹ. Gold for decoration and ceremony

Ⅺ. The significance of beautiful objects

Map of ethnic groups

Index

Brief bibliography

Acknowledgements

Photo credits