African Sculpture

African Sculpture: Criteria and Methods of Selection

           Every country has its own treasures that became part of its history. They value it so that they would know what happened from the past; from these studies they will understand why this thing presently happening or where this thing came from. Art plays an essential role in the lives of the people and their communities. It serves as a more vital purpose than merely to beautify the human environment.

            But what happened to African sculptures’ criteria and method of selection was one sided at all. With more than eleven thousand objects in the sub-Saharan African collection of the University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania only few were chosen to be included in the exhibition and most of them were famous. Many others remained in the storerooms from the day of their acquisition, never to be photographed or studied, let alone exhibited. The objective of this exhibition have been chosen primarily for their aesthetic merits, but for some reason at all the art historian chooses to select the finest object for display through the qualitative comparison of similar works.

However, many studies regarding the aesthetics of African art found out that the basis of moderation is the principle of African art. That is why most of the time you can recognize the hand of an African master carver because the creation must always be a recognizable and true representative of the tradition that produced it. There are factors that represent African art. It is used to transmit the laws, moral codes and history of each group to their young. It is also use to facilitate communication between people and super natural forces and beings. And lastly African art is used to indicate wealth and status of its owner.

It’s too unfair to choose only well known objects to be display in a major exhibition of African sculpture rather than those sculpture that carve by a master carver that we all know has a purpose not just the beauty of displaying it in a museum but the essence of its worth.

Click to view:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTCp_RP4qbw

Sources:
www.africa.upenn.edu/Sculpture/af_​sculpt.html