Asante, Fon, Senufo, Baule, Dogon, Bamana, Mossi, Mende, Kissi, Bamileke, Kuba and more

WAEC Paper 2 Section B, “Art of West Africa”, requires knowledge of the traditional art of many peoples, “the basic concepts (e.g. animism, fetishism and mythology): art forms, geographical location, characteristics, underlying beliefs and the sacred and secular functions of art”. JAMB Section B 2 lists Egypt, Ashanti, Dogon, Mossi, Fon, Senufo, Bambara, Mende, Kissi, Bamileke and Bakumba. Egypt is covered in va9.

Common features of traditional West African art

1. Functional: made for ritual, social control, status and daily use, not only for display.
2. Stylisation and abstraction: forms are simplified, exaggerated or geometric rather than copied from nature.
3. Emphasis on the head and on important parts.
4. Frontality and symmetry in figures.
5. Materials: wood above all, also clay, brass, gold, iron, ivory, stone, fibre, beads, cloth, mud.
6. Performance context: masks are part of costumes, music and dance.
7. Anonymity of most artists, though many were known in their communities.
8. Societies such as Poro, Sande, Komo, Awa and Ekpe commission and control many masks.

Why study it with Nigerian art?

WAEC is a West African examination: Ghanaian, Gambian, Sierra Leonean and Liberian candidates sit the same paper. Comparative questions often appear: “Compare Asante stools with Yoruba carving.”

Masks: a short theory

A mask is never just a carved face. In most West African societies the full masquerade (mask, costume, music, dance and the hidden wearer) is believed to make a spirit present. The wearer’s identity is concealed, and people speak of the masquerade as a spirit, not as a man in costume. Masks come in several basic forms: face masks (cover the face, such as Dan deangle), helmet masks (cover the whole head, such as Mende sowei), headdresses/crest masks (sit on top of the head, such as Bamana chi wara), shoulder masks (rest on the shoulders, such as the Baga nimba of Guinea) and plank masks (tall vertical boards, such as Mossi karanga and Bwa masks). Knowing these types lets you classify any mask in an exam.

Wood as the main material

Wood is abundant, carvable with an adze and knife, and light enough to wear. But termites and humidity destroy it, so most surviving wooden masks and figures are less than 200 years old. Older evidence survives only in durable materials: terracotta, stone and metal.

A method for any “traditional African art” question

For each people, learn: country and region, main materials, three named forms, and the institution the art serves (kingship, a secret society, farming, ancestors, healing). For example: Mende, Sierra Leone; wood; sowei helmet mask, minsereh figures, raffia costume; the women’s Sande society, which initiates girls into adulthood. Notice that the Mende sowei is one of very few African masks danced by women. Building every answer on these four points makes even short answers specific.