Traditionally, scholarship has been dominated by western anglo-mindset's leading to such statements as “from the dawn of primitive man scratching upon cave walls to the renaissance…” (a brief search of virtually any casual review of art from the Mona Lisa to hipster music blogs will find this phrase peppered throughout the various theses of wanna-be art critics) leading many to believe that all African art is simply scratching on cave walls with feces like some sort of simian kindergarten class project. This could not be further from the truth, as the breadth and scope of African Art in the sub-Saharan ranges from the beautiful textiles of the nomadic goat-herders to the elaborate cities filled with sculpture and commercial art works that predate many European civilizations. It is the aim of this blog to briefly enlighten the viewer that the cradle of civilization eventually branched in to the once fertile desert and was home to some of the world’s finest examples of early art.
Within the realm of sub-Saharan art, there are several distinct styles which anthropologist believe relate to the different dynasties and tribes that dominated the area over the 9000 years that the sub-Saharan societies represented the center of a thriving world of which western man continues to trivialize.
