Esta dissertação, de caráter ensaístico e cartográfico, acompanha dimensões da arte contemporânea africana a partir de estudo de cinco criadores do continente africano participantes do Festival de Arte Contemporânea Sesc_Videobrasil, realizado na cidade de São Paulo, entre 2011 e 2018. O repertório composto evidencia desafios e possibilidades para a constituição de poéticas e sensibilidades extraocidentais, reunindo criações que expressam diversas formas de deslocamento e destacam a intensa circulação entre mundos como parte importante da assinatura africana. De modo polifônico, as produções de Dan Halter, Bouchra Khalili, Bianca Baldi, Michael MacGarry e Karo Akpokiere sublinham a complexidade dos universos estéticos de criações africanas, ao mesmo tempo que questionam prescrições sobre diferenças culturais, regimes de fronteiras e narrativas hegemônicas que impulsionam a captura das imaginações. Sinalizam um campo multifacetado, em plena ebulição e construção, que se desdobra na necessidade de pluralização de referenciais, a fim de desconstruir assimetrias de poder, gerando novas experiências políticas e estéticas. / This dissertation, of an essayistic and cartographic character, describes the characteristics of contemporary African art, based on the study of five creators from the African continent who took part in the Sesc_Videobrasil Festival of Contemporary Art, in the city of São Paulo, between 2011 and 2018. The program shows the challenges and possibilities for the formation of non-Western poetics and sensibilities, bringing together creations that express diverse forms of displacement and highlight the intense circulation among worlds as an important African characteristic. The productions of Dan Halter, Bouchra Khalili, Bianca Baldi, Michael MacGarry and Karo Akpokiere polyphonically underline the complexity of Africa\'s aesthetic universes and question prescriptions on cultural differences, boundary regimes, and hegemonic narratives that drive the capture of the imagination. They signal a multifaceted field which is in full construction and unfold in the need to change references so that the asymmetries of power can be deconstructed into new political and aesthetic experiences.

Esta dissertação constitui-se de um estudo da cultura material de origem africana em que se investiga a produção, circulação, utilização e descarte de objetos africanos e afro-inspirados, aos quais eventualmente no Brasil agregam-se novos significados. Tratamos particularmente de duas produções características dos iorubás: as máscaras gueledé e os edan ogboni. Alguns desses objetos constam em coleções no Brasil, e seu uso em cultos religiosos afro-brasileiros do Recôncavo Baiano, no passado, é mencionado na literatura especializada. Na Nigéria e no Benim as máscaras de madeira denominadas gueledé e as estatuetas de liga de cobre edan são insígnias de duas importantes instituições tradicionais dos iorubás: a associação Gueledé e a associação Ogboni, respectivamente. Esses objetos estão associados a entidades espirituais (Iyami e Onilé) que segundo a cosmogonia desse povo são as grandes mães ancestrais da humanidade. Alguns pesquisadores se valem da presença desses artefatos no Brasil para fundamentar a hipótese da reestruturação dessas instituições iorubás no Recôncavo Baiano, no final do período colonial. Outros autores, indo além, associam a suposta \"sociedade Ogboni brasileira\" com episódios das revoltas dos malês. Tomando-se a análise do ciclo de vida desses artefatos como instrumental metodológico, verificamos, no entanto, que o aparecimento dessas peças aqui no Brasil pode ter se dado não por causa da transplantação dessas instituições tradicionais africanas, mas por questões ligadas à permanência dos aspectos mais profundos da cosmologia iorubá dentro dos próprios terreiros de candomblé, e também pela disputa por reconhecimento e poder entre os mais antigos deles, evidenciando a potencialidade que esses artefatos têm de transmissão e preservação da memória coletiva de um terreiro. Neste estudo, além do ciclo de vida das peças, levam-se em consideração aspectos morfológico e tecnológicos da produção desses artefatos, em que se incluem os espaços que lhes são associados, bem como aspectos do universo simbólico que deu sentido a essas peças e animou seu ciclo de vida. / This dissertation results from a study of the material culture of African origin, in which the manufacture, circulation, use and discard of African and African-inspired objects are investigated. Two kinds of characteristic yoruba production are focused: the geledé masks and the edan ogboni statuettes. Some of these objects are found in Brazilian collections, and their use in Afro-Brazilian religious cults in Recôncavo Baiano in the past is mentioned in the experts\' writings. In Nigeria and Benin the wooden masks called geledé and the cooper alloy statuettes edan are insignia of important traditional yoruba institutions: the Geledé Association and the Ogboni Association, respectively. These objects are associated to spiritual entities (Iyami and Onile) who, according to the cosmology of this people, are the great ancestor mothers of the humankind. Some researchers allege the presence of these artefacts in Brazil in order to prove the hypothesis of reestructuring of those yoruba institutions in Recôncavo Baiano at the end of the colonial period. Other authors go even further, associating this supposed Brazilian Ogboni Association to the Malê rebellion (1809). Using the analisys of the life cycle of those artefacts as a methodological tool, we found that the apparition of those objects here in Brazil may be due not to the transplantation of those traditional African institutions, but to issues linked to the permanence of the most profound aspects of yoruba cosmology inside the own terreiros de candomblé, and also to the dispute for recognizement and power among the oldest of them, so showing the potential these artefacts have to transmit and preserve the collective memory of a terreiro. In this study, in addition to the life cycle of those pieces, morphological and technological aspects of their production are considered, including also the spaces which are associated to them, as well as aspects of the symbolic universe which provide meaning to these objects and animated their life cycles.

Esta dissertação constitui-se da pesquisa e do estudo bibliográfico sobre cultura material e arte africana tradicional, aqui entendida como a arte de origem anterior ao período da colonização européia, antes do século XIX, mas também a produzida durante este período, especificamente a arte da África central. Nossa pesquisa reflete o fato de haver no Brasil uma omissão considerável de fontes bibliográficas e de informações específicas sobre arte e cultura material africana em língua portuguesa, sobretudo de natureza didático-pedagógica. Visamos também a Lei 10639/2003, que torna obrigatório o ensino de História da África e Cultura Afro-brasileira no âmbito da Educação Básica, e em especial nas áreas de Educação Artística, Literatura e História do Brasil / The main subject of this work is equally the research and the bibliographical study about material culture and traditional African art, here understood as the art previous to the period of the European colonization, before the 19th century, but also that produced during this period, specifically the art of Central Africa. Our research reflects the fact that in Brazil there is a considerable lack of bibliographical sources and specific information on art and African material culture in Portuguese language, mainly of didactic and pedagogic nature. We also aim at the governmental resolution that assures the teaching of African History and Afro- Brazilian Culture in the sphere of basic education, especially in the areas of Art Education, Literature and Brazilian History

This dissertation surveys the legal and ethical implications of the journey of artworks from Africa to Europe and the United States, beginning with events of the nineteenth century and continuing to the present. It addresses the laws regarding works of art from undeveloped countries, with focus on sub-Saharan Africa. The laws offer insight into what cultural value has been assigned to African art, and the changing laws and ethical norms reflect how African art has been perceived at different times. This work also discusses to what extent the unique aspects of African art should affect laws protecting the cultural property of sub-Saharan African countries. The dissertation focuses especially on Nigeria, the home of the Kingdom of Benin. It also addresses the legal issues of art from Mali, Cameroon, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It shows when, where, and how the legal issues for sub-Saharan art are similar to, or different from, the legal issues for other regions. Three spheres of academic endeavor were pursued in producing this work: African art history, ethics, and legal studies. From the combination of these areas emerges a narrative with a broad variety of events and people. Although the story is told chronologically, it is based on a set of legal and ethical issues. The common issues fall into four categories: plunder and illegal import/export; ethical collection and display; authenticity and forgery; and ownership and copyright. African artworks found their way to the West in the nineteenth century. There they were considered "savage fetishes" and put in ethnographic museums. In the twentieth century, Western artists such as Picasso were inspired by the aesthetics of African art, and private collectors began acquiring it. Now the world's major art museums display African art. Since World War II, important international conferences have established an increasing level of protection for cultural property, and thus for African art. International conventions have not prevented illicit art traffic, however. The story of the Afo-A-Kom's return to Cameroon in 1975 illustrates the diverging interests of collectors, museums, the public, and the source country. Forgery has been an increasing problem for African art throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first century, fed by the high prices that authentic works receive in auction and at galleries. In 1991, for example, Sotheby's sold a forged terra-cotta ram from Mali for more than a quarter of a million dollars. Today's attitudes and laws concerning African art reflect a complex interplay of historical events and legal changes over time. From the nineteenth century to current times, some progress has been made. Key issues remain from colonial times, however. Despite a growing body of international and national legislation to protect cultural property, African art is still seen by some as a commodity that can be stolen, illegally exported and imported, forged, destroyed or censored.

For eighty-six-year-old Tampa, Florida, native Dolores Lolita Rodriguez, yard decorating was more than just decoration; it was a form of therapy. Her yard was a massive assemblage of found objects arranged into a personalized visual vocabulary that involved honoring the deceased, her Spanish identity, and local spiritual practices. The yard also upheld a unique conception of beauty. Her creations were an articulation of, and remedy for, a life of tremendous loss. They were also the cause of her stroke and confinement to rehabilitation in November 2002. Dolores property was visually cognate with a mode of yard decoration, called the African-American yard show, which defends the home from evil spirits and honors the deceased. Although Dolores was not African-American, but of Spanish-American descent, it was important to explore possible influences from the local African-American community. It also became necessary to interact with Caribbean religious practices present in her west Tampa neighborhood in order to understand her coded yard. After a year and a half of meetings with Dolores in her rehabilitation center room, it was determined that no academic paradigm or any one religious practice could be used to explain her world. Dolores did not abide by any specific set of rules other than her own. Her daily act of decoration was a make-do phenomenon. She improvised with found objects and elements of local spiritual practices creating a bricolage of meaning. She surrounded herself with an autobiographical sketch of her past, something she found to be beautiful. Her twenty-five years of hard work were completely destroyed in May 2004, by her long-lost grandson. The property was erased of everything Dolores en put up for sale. Dolores Lolita Rodriguez died of a heart attack in her rehabilitation center bed in November 2005. All that remains are her words and the photographs of her work as they have been presented in this project. I do hope that my research serves her legacy well.

Thesis (M.A.) - Carleton University, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 91-97). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Dissertation (DPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

Esta dissertação constitui-se de um estudo da cultura material de origem africana em que se investiga a produção, circulação, utilização e descarte de objetos africanos e afro-inspirados, aos quais eventualmente no Brasil agregam-se novos significados. Tratamos particularmente de duas produções características dos iorubás: as máscaras gueledé e os edan ogboni. Alguns desses objetos constam em coleções no Brasil, e seu uso em cultos religiosos afro-brasileiros do Recôncavo Baiano, no passado, é mencionado na literatura especializada. Na Nigéria e no Benim as máscaras de madeira denominadas gueledé e as estatuetas de liga de cobre edan são insígnias de duas importantes instituições tradicionais dos iorubás: a associação Gueledé e a associação Ogboni, respectivamente. Esses objetos estão associados a entidades espirituais (Iyami e Onilé) que segundo a cosmogonia desse povo são as grandes mães ancestrais da humanidade. Alguns pesquisadores se valem da presença desses artefatos no Brasil para fundamentar a hipótese da reestruturação dessas instituições iorubás no Recôncavo Baiano, no final do período colonial. Outros autores, indo além, associam a suposta \"sociedade Ogboni brasileira\" com episódios das revoltas dos malês. Tomando-se a análise do ciclo de vida desses artefatos como instrumental metodológico, verificamos, no entanto, que o aparecimento dessas peças aqui no Brasil pode ter se dado não por causa da transplantação dessas instituições tradicionais africanas, mas por questões ligadas à permanência dos aspectos mais profundos da cosmologia iorubá dentro dos próprios terreiros de candomblé, e também pela disputa por reconhecimento e poder entre os mais antigos deles, evidenciando a potencialidade que esses artefatos têm de transmissão e preservação da memória coletiva de um terreiro. Neste estudo, além do ciclo de vida das peças, levam-se em consideração aspectos morfológico e tecnológicos da produção desses artefatos, em que se incluem os espaços que lhes são associados, bem como aspectos do universo simbólico que deu sentido a essas peças e animou seu ciclo de vida. / This dissertation results from a study of the material culture of African origin, in which the manufacture, circulation, use and discard of African and African-inspired objects are investigated. Two kinds of characteristic yoruba production are focused: the geledé masks and the edan ogboni statuettes. Some of these objects are found in Brazilian collections, and their use in Afro-Brazilian religious cults in Recôncavo Baiano in the past is mentioned in the experts\' writings. In Nigeria and Benin the wooden masks called geledé and the cooper alloy statuettes edan are insignia of important traditional yoruba institutions: the Geledé Association and the Ogboni Association, respectively. These objects are associated to spiritual entities (Iyami and Onile) who, according to the cosmology of this people, are the great ancestor mothers of the humankind. Some researchers allege the presence of these artefacts in Brazil in order to prove the hypothesis of reestructuring of those yoruba institutions in Recôncavo Baiano at the end of the colonial period. Other authors go even further, associating this supposed Brazilian Ogboni Association to the Malê rebellion (1809). Using the analisys of the life cycle of those artefacts as a methodological tool, we found that the apparition of those objects here in Brazil may be due not to the transplantation of those traditional African institutions, but to issues linked to the permanence of the most profound aspects of yoruba cosmology inside the own terreiros de candomblé, and also to the dispute for recognizement and power among the oldest of them, so showing the potential these artefacts have to transmit and preserve the collective memory of a terreiro. In this study, in addition to the life cycle of those pieces, morphological and technological aspects of their production are considered, including also the spaces which are associated to them, as well as aspects of the symbolic universe which provide meaning to these objects and animated their life cycles.

Esta dissertação constitui-se da pesquisa e do estudo bibliográfico sobre cultura material e arte africana tradicional, aqui entendida como a arte de origem anterior ao período da colonização européia, antes do século XIX, mas também a produzida durante este período, especificamente a arte da África central. Nossa pesquisa reflete o fato de haver no Brasil uma omissão considerável de fontes bibliográficas e de informações específicas sobre arte e cultura material africana em língua portuguesa, sobretudo de natureza didático-pedagógica. Visamos também a Lei 10639/2003, que torna obrigatório o ensino de História da África e Cultura Afro-brasileira no âmbito da Educação Básica, e em especial nas áreas de Educação Artística, Literatura e História do Brasil / The main subject of this work is equally the research and the bibliographical study about material culture and traditional African art, here understood as the art previous to the period of the European colonization, before the 19th century, but also that produced during this period, specifically the art of Central Africa. Our research reflects the fact that in Brazil there is a considerable lack of bibliographical sources and specific information on art and African material culture in Portuguese language, mainly of didactic and pedagogic nature. We also aim at the governmental resolution that assures the teaching of African History and Afro- Brazilian Culture in the sphere of basic education, especially in the areas of Art Education, Literature and Brazilian History

M.Tech. / In this research, I examine whether cultural meanings embedded in original sixteenth to eighteenth century Dutch lace and Shweshwe fabric, as examples of colonial forms, are transformed through selected processes. With reference to Dutch lace from Holland, I analyse how the form changes within colonial and post-colonial contexts, but propose that the cultural meanings of the lace remain similar in both contexts. With reference to Shweshwe fabric, I argue that the form stays the same within both colonial and post-colonial contexts, but that its cultural meaning changes as a result of how patterns printed on it are named and identified in a post-colonial context. In this research, I use the term ‘cultural meaning’ to refer to certain signifiers of culture. I propose that factors such as value, class, aspiration, desire and consumption are embedded in or make cultural meaning. My central argument proposes that crocheted doilies, and plastic tablecloths and placemats might be seen as post-colonial versions of Dutch lace. These post-colonial versions of Dutch lace are adopted and adapted by female homemakers in Naledi Ext. 2 to suit certain decorative tastes, values, aspirations and act as markers of class. This adoption and adaptation of the original colonial form, shifts the cultural meanings imbued within it, but not necessarily the associated consumptive meanings. Whilst the primary focus of the theoretical research is Dutch lace and its proposed post-colonial counterparts, I also examine examples of original Shweshwe fabric and how meanings of motifs found on this fabric have been transformed by the modern Mosotho to reflect notions of value and aspiration, whilst the actual motifs appear to be unchanged. In my practical work, I use Dutch lace, crocheted doilies, and plastic tablecloths and placemats, as well as Shweshwe fabric as visual references in the production of large to small scale paintings. In these, I explore how, through painterly alteration and transformation, shifts can occur in the meanings of patterns derived from these culturally-loaded sources.