The history and culture of the world have been significantly influenced by African art. The idea that Africa is the origin of human history is practically unassailable.
African art history has roots that date back well before written history and have been preserved through the ages. Rock art dates back hundreds of years, while 75 000-year-old shell beads made into a necklace have been found in a cave in the southernmost region of South Africa.
According to research on the development of African art, the earliest sculptures discovered date back to 500 BC and are from Nigeria. However, the absence of archaeological digs hinders understanding of the age of African art, and the fact that the materials used to make art objects are purely disposable means that an untold number of things have vanished over the course of history.
This is exacerbated worse by the fact that no effort was made to preserve these artefacts because the indigenous cultures who produced them did not value them as aesthetic achievements. Once their purpose was fulfilled, their worth was frequently little.
Beginning in 1840, most of the nations in sub-Saharan Africa underwent foreign colonization, which resulted in the spread of various values. In the century prior, travelers, traders, and missionaries purchased a significant amount of African art for amusing purposes before leaving the continent. Because colonialists frequently failed to recognize and value local art, African art history was not preserved or recorded.
The Genesis of African Art History
The earliest form of art in Africa is called rock art. According to research on human evolution, modern Homo Sapiens originated in Africa. Therefore, it makes sense that Africa would have the oldest and most extensive collection of rock art on the globe.
Although most experts agree that Africa’s rock art may date to more than 50,000 years ago, the earliest images that have been properly dated are in Namibia (the Apollo 11 caves), where they date to between 24 and 27,000 years ago.
In the Saharan sands of Niger, the earliest known rock art was created around 6500 BC. They are sculptures called petroglyphs that show extinct creatures like giraffes from that region.
These pictures reveal how prehistoric tribes and cultures perceived the world around them. We may gain insight into the painters’ thoughts, as well as their spiritual and material worlds, by studying the works.
Unfortunately, a large portion of this priceless history is being lost, either naturally as a result of human pressure on the locations or as a result of graffiti defacing the rock paintings.
We must figure out a method to conserve the global treasure that African art history represents.
