A History of Art

      The oldest art objects in the world were discovered in a cave in South Africa! So, it has quite a history of art. The art and religion of South Africa was the topic of conversation for Wednesday's class. I would like to focus on the art aspect of South African culture in this post. What were the art objects in the cave that are 75,000 years old - they were drilled out snail shells probably strung on something to create a knecklace. Vanity existed 75,000 years ago! There was also rock art created by the ancient ancestors of the Bushman or San.



Today there is a vibrant and active art community. I was interested to see what kind of art was produced during apartheid. Here are some examples:

 

Pretty dark, dramatic stuff, as you might imagine. It was interesting to look at some of the photography from apartheid - interesting is not the right word, heartbreaking is really more appropriate. Here is some mor contemporary art...I found that a lot of the contemporary art depicts tribal scenes or traditions - South Africans have not forgotten their roots or their history.

 

And of course, there is all the craft artwork, like this bread pot made out of...telephone wire!!! It's amazing.



What did I learn from this brief exploration of South African art? I can postulate some things: South Africans are very crafty and good at making beautiful things with very little - rocks, telephone wire, etc. They have a strong connection to their past and keep old traditions alive in their culture today. I am excited to go there and learn more about their art - hopefully we can go to the art show that Heather has mentioned a couple times.