Introduction to a book titled "The Bright Continent - African Art History":

"We come to art from various points. Some are out for a stroll and stumble upon objects that grab their attention. Others are equipped with guidebooks, methodically approaching and regularly revisiting both actual and virtual works. Still other viewers revel in the familiar, remaining attentive to details that cement life-long friendships.

African art is no different. For some, it may initially hold few clues that help unpack its meaning. Those viewers may have little knowledge of Africa or conversely might actually be African—but from a different part of the continent, a totally different culture, or members of a religion that distances them even from a work their own hometown produced.

No book can be all things to all people. I have tried to make this one especially for students, including suggestions about how to look at and discuss both older and current art forms from many parts of Africa south of the Sahara. At the same time, there are sections of this book based on original research, as well as interpretations that have not been included in other textbooks, and these may be of interest even to specialists.

No art is completely transparent, letting us understand all of an artist’s constraints, thoughts, choices, or associations. But if we are not privy to all of an artist’s perceptions and interpretations, we can lessen the differences in our understanding—a process that creates human pleasure in both cerebral and sensual ways. By familiarizing ourselves with African art, learning its visual vocabulary and grammar, assessing our taste for it, and placing it within the contexts of its makers and users, we expand our world and honor the African artists who created it."

     The Bright Continent - African Art History       (file size: about 16 MB)