| African art is a terrific blend of visual | | | | forms from the western tribes, have |
| imagery, spiritual beliefs and social | | | | contributed to African art in a big way. Most |
| purpose. The ancient African art mainly | | | | of the art forms depicted the abundance of |
| represented the religious beliefs and | | | | surrounding nature and abstract |
| cultural ideas through the various artifacts, | | | | interpretations of animals and plant life. |
| namely masks and figures. Apart from masks | | | | Some of them flaunted primitive designs and |
| and figures that were used in religious | | | | shapes. It is observed that the sculpture in |
| ceremonies, these beliefs and ideas also | | | | wood is intricate and time defying. Most of |
| found artistic expression in a number of | | | | the ancient sculptures were made of wood and |
| utilitarian objects and tools of everyday | | | | other materials, such as terracotta, mud, |
| life. The ancient art forms were extremely | | | | beadwork, ivory, metal and stone. These |
| traditional in nature and they formed the | | | | sculptures mostly had humans as their main |
| major part of the African society. One of the | | | | subjects. |
| earliest artforms of African culture were | | | | |
| terracotta statuettes that were found in the | | | | A vast collection of ancient African art can |
| Nok culture of Nigeria, around 500 B.C. | | | | be found in a number of museums all over the |
| | | | world. The art mainly consisted of artforms |
| Ancient African art comprises of | | | | with human and animal subjects and depicted |
| contributions from a variety of tribes all | | | | the positive and negative aspects of human |
| over Africa. These tribes created different | | | | behavior. The history of African art also |
| art forms, unique and peculiar to the tribe. | | | | proves the importance of religion and |
| There is immense diversity in the African art | | | | religious practices in the African culture |
| culture and the artifacts, native southern | | | | and people. |
| arts and a variety of existent cultural art | | | | |