Cloth, dress, and art patronage in Africa [electronic resource] / Judith Perani and Norma H. Wolff.

9781847888662 (ebook)

Oxford : Berg, 1999.

1 online resource (vi, 217 p.) : ill., maps.

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Drawing examples from a wide range of African cultures, this ground-breaking book expands the continuing discourse on the aesthetic and cultural significance of cloth, body and dress in Africa and moves beyond contextual analysis to consider the broader application of cloth and dress to art forms in other media. In blending the concerns of Art History and Anthropology, the authors focus on the art patronage systems that stimulate production, consumption, commodification and cultural meaning, and emphasize the overriding importance of cloth to aesthetic and cultural expression in African societies. Through this approach they reveal complex processes that involve a series of actors, including textile artists, commissioning-patrons and consumer-patrons, all of whom shape cloth and dress traditions. These individuals not only influence production, but are a key to understanding the cultural meaning of cloth and dress and, by extension, the body in Africa.

Berg fashion library.

Print version :

Books / Online

English

November 04, 2021

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Specialized.

Introduction Part 1: The Impact of Patronage on the Arts of Africa 1 Art Patronage as a Generator of Cloth and Dress 2 Cloth and Dress as a Mirror of Culture in Africa 3 Art Patron Roles 4 Leadership Arts in State Societies Part 2: The Development of Hausa, Nupe and Yoruba Cloth and Dress Traditions 5 Historical Context of Leadership, Trade and Art Patronage 6 Patterns of Production and Consumption in Nineteenth-Century Luxury Cloth Traditions 7 Continuity and Change in Twentieth-Century Cloth Traditions 8 The Fashionable World of the Yoruba Postscript: To Put on Cloth