1
Collapse: Why Do Civilizations Fall: Mali and Songhai Explores the rise and fall of Mali-Songhai.
http://www.learner.org/exhibits/collapse/mali.html
Questions for exploration:
After the reign of Mansa Musa, the history of Mali-Songhai continued, but eventually the region was conquered and suffered decline. How did the riches of the region and of the great city of Timbuktu serve to summon its own destruction? What sources are used to trace the rise and fall of Mali-Songhai?
2
Images of Power and Identity in Southern Africa This exhibition introduces the visual arts of Africa south of the Sahara.
http://www.si.edu/nmafa/exhibits/ipi/ipiintro.htm
Questions for exploration:
Choose any three of the ten galleries exhibiting images drawn from the Southern regions of Africa. Identify the characteristics of the art of each of these regions and the political infrastructure that, in part, sustained these images. Within each the three galleries you have chosen, choose one image and discuss how it is typical of that region's art.
3
Islam and Indigenous African Culture This site explores the interaction between African indigenous religious beliefs and Islam
http://web-dubois.fas.harvard.edu/DuBois/Baobab/narratives/islam/islam.html
Questions for further exploration:
How does the style and appearance of Muslim mosques in Sub-Saharan Africa reflect indigenous African culture?
4
Kente cloth This site examine the history and meaning of a West African woven art of weaving Kente cloth.
http://users.erols.com/kemet/kente.htm
Questions for exploration:
What is the significance of Kente cloth? Choose three of the regional patterns of Kente cloth and discuss their symbolic meaning.
5
Ancient Africa: Mansa Musa This site explores the rise and fall of Mali-Songhay.
http://www.mrdowling.com/609-mansamusa.html
Questions for exploration:
Using the text and links at this site, discuss the rise and fall of Mali-Songhay (alternatively spelled Songhai.) How was the pilgrimage of Mansa Musa evocative of his empire's wealth? What impact did it have on world history?
6
The Art and History of Benin This site is based on an exhibition of the art of Benin in West Africa.
http://www.upenn.edu/museum/Collections/benin.html
Questions for exploration:
What materials were considered proper for or belonging to the Oba and the state? What metal was of particular symbolic significance for the state? What figures drawn from nature were of importance in the belief system in Benin? What impact did early Portuguese trade have on Benin? What did the British do to undermine the power of the Oba?
7
Great Zimbabwe This site offers a brief virtual tour of the ruins of Great Zimbabwe.
http://landow.stg.brown.edu/post/zimbabwe/art/greatzim/gz1.html
Questions for exploration:
What construction techniques were used to build Great Zimbabwe? Why, ever since the arrival of Europeans in Africa, has Great Zimbabwe been the source of ideological discourse or debate?
8
Yoruba History and Culture This site is dedicated to the Cutting to the Essence, Shaping for the Fire, an experimental on-line catalog of an exhibit on Yoruba and Akan culture first presented at the Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences in Peoria, Illinois in 1994.
http://www.fa.indiana.edu/~conner/africart/home.html
Questions for exploration:
Read through the short "History," and "Kings" sections. Then scroll down to the "Man and the Gods" section. How is Yoruba divination channeled through the Gods and through men by Eshu? How is this connection expressed in art? How does the diviner work? What are his tools? Why is the head so important in Yoruba religion? How is this importance expressed in art?
