African art - Personal Decoration, Rituals, Symbols: The adornment of the human body involves all aspects of the arts as practiced in Africa. The body may be altered in ways that are permanent, especially by scarification, or the cutting of scars.

How have the visual arts and adornment been used to express identity across the African continent? Can arts of adornment reflect both continuity and change in one’s identity?

Among many West African groups intricately designed jewelry, elaborate hairstyles, body decoration, and elegant attire combine to make human beings, especially women, living works of art. Representing individual, familial, and cultural concepts of beauty, many of these adornments have roots in the 500-1590 period of West African history.

African Adornments was established as a way to empower women in Africa through entrepreneurship while connecting people around the world with beautiful handmade pieces. We offer an array of unique waistbeads made by women in Ghana and Nigeria, along with various African inspired accessories.

Africans adorned themselves in four general ways: scarification, body painting, beadwork, and jewelry. Scarification involves deliberately cutting the skin in decorative patterns that leave permanent scars. Scarification can be in the form of grooves cut down in the skin or welts that stick up above the skin in raised designs.

Bodily adornments, such as ritual textiles, clothing, and headwear, are created by the many cultures throughout the African continent. The exhibition explores how adornments are constructed to express societal conventions, and reveals their critical role in establishing and transmitting the wearer’s identity and rank.

From body painting techniques 100,000 years old to incorporation of the most contemporary materials and designs, the traditional peoples of African have style as alive and vibrant as the rites...

2024年1月29日 · African jewellery, characterised by its wide range of materials, styles, and symbolic meanings, is more than just an accessory for personal decoration. It represents a profound expression of culture. This article explores the historical importance of African jewellery, revealing how these elaborate creations are not merely ornamental.

2024年6月10日 · African cultural accessories are more than just items of adornment; they are rich with history, significance, and artistry. From intricate beadwork to bold and symbolic headpieces, these accessories have played a crucial role in African societies for centuries.

In Africa body decoration and dress may offer clues to a person's age, ethnic group, region, social position, and even political opinions. As Western-style attire becomes more common in Africa, some traditional types of adornment and dress are fading from everyday use—especially in …