Baobab Cultural Center

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What is African Art
October 7, 2007

What is African art?

"African art is classic. It represents a universal language that is essentially abstract and symbolic. That is why African art, as a language and in its multiple dimensions, chants the destiny of the African children.

It will never be simple to understand because it is founded on the creative liberties of the artist, whose mission it is to renew the message time and time again with the evolution of history. The evolution of Africa is a celebration of triumph over death and suffering.

The dynamism of black art is thus a representation of the Metamorphosis of a people across Africa, Brazil, Haiti, Jamaica, Cuba, USA, Europe, etc. Neither the African architecture in the Sudan, the Dogon art in Mali, the civilizations of Egypt and Benin, the dance of the Zulu, are fixed in time. African art thrives on change. A change that has allowed it to resist colonization.

The changing African art is a force that ultimately has imposed itself on colonialism in the form of cubism. It has revolutionized modern dance. It has created jazz, blues, negro-spriritual music. It has defined the beautiful architectural edifices in Europe.

African Art, ancient and new, deserves to be celebrated across the globe as an attestation of its triumph over oppression. African art is not an imperialization of culture. It not a diplomatic service. It does not pretend to be the-be-it and-end-all of art, culture and civilization.

African art is the art of dialogue open to the whole world. It speaks only about the humble condition of humanity. It is welcoming and not exclusionary. It is a gift to mankind."

Rev. Engelbert Mveng, L’art et l’artisanat Africains., Edition Clé., Yaounde, Cameroon. 1980