You will find some outstanding links to websites about African Art at the following urls.
African Art Projects-Simple to do, Educational and Fun
Create a construction paper flag of one of the countries in Africa.
See Link below for inspiration.
Create a faux "Kisii" sculpture from an Ivory Soap Bar. Really,
first soften the Ivory Soap with a little water and thin use
sculpture tools for a butter knife to cut the "sculpture,"
into various animals shpes. Need inspiration? See the link
below which
will show you real Kisii sculpture and give you the African
symbolic meaning of the animals that you can create.
Write a letter using beads. Yes that's right! The Zulu's of
Nbebele tribe living in Zimbabwe have used a color code to
send messages for a very long time. The design, color, and
placement of the beads are an integral part to the understanding
of the message and proverbs. See Links below.
The Ashanti are known for their gold weights are popular collector's
items and are fun to make. Small sculptural figures can be created
from clay and painted with gold acrylic. Gold weights convey
moral lessons and proverbs as well as being used for currency.
Sound
odd? Think about our own dollar bill-can you find the statement
on it-"In God we Trust." See link below for examples of Ashanti
Gold Weights.
The Masai of Kenya have long been known for their warrior abilities
and the traditional red, black, and white shield can be easily
created from cardboard, paint, beads, cowrie shells, and bells.
Rock Paintings of the Tanzania area are plentiful. Rock paintings
can be ceated by drawing with charcoal onto a flat smooth rock.
First prime the rock with lard or vegetable shortening. You can
also carve into a plaster of paris mixture poured into a recyled
plastic meat tray. Let the plaster of paris dry. Draw onto
a sheet of paper. Lay the paper on top of the dry plaster of
paris and retrace drawing. Brush any excess plaster of paris
from the drawing and paint the entire drawing a grey wash. You've
got a "faux" incised etching.
African children are known for their ability to recycle old tin
cans into fantastic toys. Try it. What can you create from
an old discarded soup can? M-m-m remember Andy Warhol, oh
but that's a different story all together.
"http://www.thinker.org/fam/education/publications/guide-african/index.html"
Teacher Guide to Africa-Sponsored by the San Francisco Art Museum-A good
place to start
"http://www.safari-iafrica.com/market/zululetr.htm"
Zulu Love Letter Symbols and Meaning
See enclosed African beadletter
meaning chart, also.
"http://minotaur.marques.co.za/clients/zulu/index.htm"
Zulu Bead Homepage
You will find lots of information
about Zulu Beads here.
"http://www.mother.com/~zimweb/ISP/Others.tes.html"
Zimbambwe
100 Sites to Zimbambwe
"http://www.rcbowen.com/Kenya/maasai.html"
Information about the East African Masai Peoples
Good overview of this region.
"http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/NEH/mat_cult.html"East
African Bibliography
Overview of Books about
the Art & Architecture of East Africa
"http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/NEH/neh.html"
Teaching and Learning about Eastern Africa.
Very Comprehensive Site
"http://african-art-connection.com"
Nairobi Art
You will find the Kisii
Sculpture and Masai Shield here
http://artnetweb.com/guggenheim/africa/"
Interactive Clicable Map of
You will find it easy to
find examples of art from all over Africa on this map
"http://www.nd.edu/~ndasa/proverbs.html"
African Proverbs
Create a Felt Applique Banner
using these proverbs as inspiration
"http://www.fa.indiana.edu/~conner/akan/shape.html"
Akan Gold Weights
Learn about the history
of the Ashanti Goldweights and then create your own.
African Symbols to Use in Project Ideas
Create a construction paper flag of one of the countries in Africa. See Link below for inspiration. Create a faux "Kisii" sculpture from an Ivory Soap Bar. Really, first soften the Ivory Soap with a little water and thin use sculpture tools for a butter knife to cut the "sculpture," into various animals shpes. Need inspiration? See the link below which will show you real Kisii sculpture and give you the African symbolic meaning of the animals that you can create. Write a letter using beads. Yes that's right! The Zulu's of Nbebele tribe living in Zimbabwe have used a color code to send messages for a very long time. The design, color, and placement of the beads are an integral part to the understanding of the message and proverbs. See Links below. The Ashanti are known for their gold weights are popular collector's items and are fun to make. Small sculptural figures can be created from clay and painted with gold acrylic. Gold weights convey moral lessons and proverbs as well as being used for currency. Sound odd? Think about our own dollar bill-can you find the statement on it-"In God we Trust." See link below for examples of Ashanti Gold Weights. The Masai of Kenya have long been known for their warrior abilities and the traditional red, black, and white shield can be easily created from cardboard, paint, beads, cowrie shells, and bells. Rock Paintings of the Tanzania area are plentiful. Rock paintings can be ceated by drawing with charcoal onto a flat smooth rock. First prime the rock with lard or vegetable shortening. You can also carve into a plaster of paris mixture poured into a recyled plastic meat tray. Let the plaster of paris dry. Draw onto a sheet of paper. Lay the paper on top of the dry plaster of paris and retrace drawing. Brush any excess plaster of paris from the drawing and paint the entire drawing a grey wash. You've got a "faux" incised etching. African children are known for their ability to recycle old tin cans into fantastic toys. Try it. What can you create from an old discarded soup can? M-m-m remember Andy Warhol, oh but that's a different story all together.
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