Understanding and appreciating traditional African sculptures was one of the early problems encountered by strangers to the producing culture when they first encountered the works, and when the study of these works of art became intense in the early years of the 20 th century. This problem was partly due to the variety of styles in which these sculptures were expressed, the volume of sculpture-production in the continent, and the numerous uses to which the sculptures were put. In an effort to simplify the understanding and appreciation of these objects, scholars have attempted various forms of classification. Two main approaches have been adopted in the classification efforts. These are the aesthetic (form and structure) and the ethnological (function) approaches. These approaches, however, seem to be bedeviled by inhering weaknesses. In this paper, both approaches (the aesthetic and the ethnological) are appraised and their hermitic and misleading characters are highlighted. It is then suggested that the aesthetic and ethnological approaches needed to be complimented by a historical consideration in order to arrive at the formulation of classification paradigms that take into account the degree of mobility and interaction that took place in the continent in the historical past.
The practice of the visual arts in post-independence Nigeria has been variedly characterized. This has been more so since 1977 when the 2 nd World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture was held in Nigeria. This epochal event is, today, said to have engendered mercantilism, a decline in standard of art products, and a laisser-faire attitude towards art practice in Nigeria. These, it is said, have singly and collectively affected the status and working conditions of the Nigerian artist. It is also said that the practice of the arts, as well as the artist, are in jeopardy, at the moment. To remedy this situation, it is suggested by some, that the practice of the arts be regulated and that a code of conduct should be instituted. These suggestions are interrogated in this paper with the aim of finding out the suitability of these prescriptions for solving the identified problems in a 21 st century art environment. The interrogation identifies that resorting to regulation would amount to imprisoning creativity and lead to retrogression.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.