Art in Eastern Africa

Africa has produced some of the world’s oldest, most diverse art. In addition to the functions these works of art served within their societies of origin, they exerted a significant influence on important 20th-century European art movements. Yet, to this day, the study of African art and its history is limited within the curricula of African schools, universities and art colleges while African art textbooks, designed and produced to address such needs, are virtually non-existent. The study of African art remains a largely Western discipline and African art scholarship, influenced by western sensibilities, is predominantly an expression of western aesthetic responses to African visual culture. This book, initiated in Africa, is the first in a series to address this gap. Bringing together leading artists, designers and scholars from the East Africa region, it illustrates how visually creative people in Eastern Africa expressed themselves in the past through art and artefacts, and how some contemporary artists and designers respond to the world within and beyond Africa.