Early African Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Early African Art - Essay Example ed from either wood or other organic materials, these sculptures were a reflection of certain societal issues, which includes and not limited to the deities. In this relation, this paper considers the following collection of the African Arts; Of all the continents, Africa is one that is much infested with the art of rock painting than all the continents that constitute the world. In addition, rock painting in Africa remains not only the oldest but also one that has been continuously been practiced through generations. Among the features that are shown in the Africans rock painting includes human figures, animals, and a combination of the animals and futures that are related to human beings. These features were collectively referred to as therianthropes normally associated with the shamanism (Abiodun, Henry, and John, 88). The African rock painting can be categorized in three domains, the southern, central, and the northern. The demarcation considers the regional and the similarity in the trend of the rock painting. It is urged that the rock painting of the three domains indicate reasonable degree of resemblance that even untrained eyes would find it easy to recognize and differentiate. It is worth noting that not all the rock painting demonstrates pre-historical existence since most of the rock painting thrived in the nineteenth century and continues to grow today. In South Africa, Drakensberg, the roc painting in the areas simply depicted the confrontation between the European and the San who were considered the Bushmen. The paintings mostly demonstrate the European solders riding o horses and rifles hanging on their shoulders. In is interesting to note that some of the paintings demonstrates three dimensional using a special painting material called the polychrome shading (Bodrogi, 67). What is considered the southern zone in the African rock painting stretches from Cape Town in South Africa and cuts right through Zimbabwe and the Zambezi River in Zambia. The