New: the 2nd edition of Within Carved Lines: The Secret Meanings of African Masks is out now. Get the book → Many peoples documented in this book left behind a rich, well-recorded body of art. The Bafo, who live in western Cameroon, left behind something narrower but still unmistakable: a specific carved gesture, both hands…
New: the 2nd edition of Within Carved Lines: The Secret Meanings of African Masks is out now. Get the book → Most entries in this book follow a single named people. The Grassland of western Cameroon asks for a wider lens: the savannas here are home to three ethnic groups with ancestors in common, the…
New: the 2nd edition of Within Carved Lines: The Secret Meanings of African Masks is out now. Get the book → Several traditions documented in this book show a ritual object losing its original function over time yet staying in circulation, repurposed for a new audience. The Nyamwezi, the largest ethnic agrarian group in north-central…
New: the 2nd edition of Within Carved Lines: The Secret Meanings of African Masks is out now. Get the book → Several traditions documented in this book are known for a single mask genre with a single mood. The Anang, who inhabit the Nigerian province of Calabar to the south of the Cross River, are…
New: the 2nd edition of Within Carved Lines: The Secret Meanings of African Masks is out now. Get the book → Nearly every tradition documented in this book channels its art through a mask worn in performance. The Fanti, an Akan people living along Ghana’s Gulf of Guinea coast and adjacent inland areas, are one…
The phrase makes people think of shadowy cults. The real story is about power, colonial politics and the institutions that kept our traditions alive.
New: the 2nd edition of Within Carved Lines: The Secret Meanings of African Masks is out now. Get the book → Most tribal names documented in this book come from within: a people’s own word for itself. Gurunsi is different. It is a collective term covering the Gurensi, Kasena, Lyele, Nuna, Nunuma, Sisala, and Winiama,…
New: the 2nd edition of Within Carved Lines: The Secret Meanings of African Masks is out now. Get the book → Several traditions documented in this book use a mask or a costume to mark status or identity. The Tuareg, a tribal people of the Sahara numbering more than 300,000 across Algeria, Tunisia, Mali, Libya,…
New: the 2nd edition of Within Carved Lines: The Secret Meanings of African Masks is out now. Get the book → Nearly every tradition documented in this book relies on a dedicated maker: a guild of blacksmiths, a lineage of carvers, a workshop tied to a royal court. The Maasai, 350,000 nomadic herdsmen living mainly…
The Igbo kola nut ceremony opens every serious gathering. Learn who breaks the oji, what the prayer says, and the rules guests follow.
New: the 2nd edition of Within Carved Lines: The Secret Meanings of African Masks is out now. Get the book → Several traditions documented in this book grew their initiation systems from within, inventing the society and the mask that represents it together. The Malinke, named for their historical links to the empire of Mali…
African art restitution is about more than objects. See what has been returned, what is still held, and why it matters for communities.