Tropical African Art. African girls Picasso African girls Picasso
Black slaves, accustomed to the hot climate, were mainly used extensively to work on cotton and sugar plantations in the North and South America. But African slaves were also in Europe, where they were used as an "exotic" domestic servants. The exact date when the first black slaves came to Europe is still unknown. From the writings of some ancient Greek historians, philosophers and writers that have come down to our time, we can conclude that some (very small) number of African slaves were in Athens and some other city-states of Hellas.
Most likely, ancient Greek travelers bought black Nubian slaves in Egypt and brought them to their homeland. And after Rome defeated Carthage in the 2nd Punic War (218 - 201 BC), and especially after the capture and destruction of Carthage by the Romans (146 BC), the number of African slaves in Europe has increased dramatically. Black slaves appeared in many houses and villas of wealthy Romans. They, like their white counterparts in misfortune, had no rights, completely dependent on the humanity and whim of the owners. It is no coincidence that the Roman scholar Mark Terentius Varro pointed out that a slave is just a talking tool.
When did African slaves appear in medieval Europe?
After the fall of the Roman Empire, black slaves were forgotten in Europe for many centuries. However, in the first half of the 15th century, with the beginning of the Age of Discovery, the Portuguese, looking for sea route to India to establish an uninterrupted supply of spices and other exotic goods, they began to regularly examine the western coast of Africa. They moved further and further every year, mapping the previously unknown coast on the map, often landed, came into contact with the leaders of local tribes. And in 1444, Captain Nuny Trishtan, who reached the mouth of the Senegal River, captured ten blacks there, who he brought to Lisbon and sold at a high price. So the first black slaves ended up in medieval Europe.
Encouraged by the example of Trishtan, some Portuguese captains took up this shameful trade, which brings a good income (it should be noted that the trade of a slave trader in those days was not only considered shameful, but even reprehensible). The example of the Portuguese was followed a little later by the Spaniards, the French, and the British. Entire fleets of ships were annually sent to Africa for slaves. And this went on for several centuries, until the slave trade was outlawed.
Article 4
Article 3
Article 2
Article 1
Extracts from the Declaration of the Rights of Culture
Text No. 15
In this Declaration, culture refers to the material and spiritual environment created by man, as well as the process of creating, preserving, disseminating and reproducing norms and values that contribute to the elevation of man and the humanization of society. Culture includes:
a) cultural and historical heritage as a form of consolidation and transmission of the total spiritual experience of mankind (language, ideals, traditions, customs, rituals, holidays ... as well as other objects and phenomena of historical and cultural value);
b) social institutions And cultural processes that generate and reproduce spiritual and material values (science, education, religion, professional art and amateur creativity, traditional folk culture, educational, cultural and leisure activities, etc.);
c) cultural infrastructure as a system of conditions for creating, preserving, exhibiting, broadcasting and reproducing cultural values, development cultural life and creativity (museums, libraries, archives, cultural centers, exhibition halls, workshops, system of management and economic support of cultural life).
Culture is a determining condition for the realization of the creative potential of the individual and society, a form of asserting the identity of the people and the basis of the mental health of the nation, a humanistic guideline and criterion for the development of man and civilization. Outside of culture, the present and future of peoples, ethnic groups and states lose their meaning.
The culture of every nation, large and small, has the right to preserve its uniqueness and originality. The whole set of phenomena and products of the material and spiritual culture of the people constitutes an organic unity, the violation of which leads to the loss of the harmonious integrity of the entire national culture.
The culture of every nation has the right to preserve its language as the main means of expressing and preserving the spiritual and moral identity of the nation, national identity as a carrier of cultural norms, values, ideals.
Participation in cultural life is an inalienable right of every citizen, since a person is the creator of culture and its main creation. Free access To cultural sites and values, which by their status are the property of all mankind, must be guaranteed by laws that eliminate political, economic and customs barriers.
1. Name three major structural element cultures highlighted in the text. (Write out the titles, rather than rewriting the corresponding piece of text in its entirety.)
2. The text names the social institutions that create, preserve and transmit cultural values. Name any two and give an example of the values each works with.
3. The text characterizes the attitude of a person to culture. Using Facts public life, personal social experience, illustrate with two examples the statement that: a) a person is a creation of culture; b) a person is a creator of culture. (In total, there should be four examples in a correct full answer.)
4. Using the text, social science knowledge and facts of public life, give two explanations for the connection of conservation national language while maintaining national identity.
5. Give a title to each of the following articles of the Declaration.
6. The Declaration affirms that culture is the foundation of the mental health of a nation. Using social science knowledge and personal social experience, give two proofs of this.
Text No. 16
When the first African sculptures came to Europe, they were treated as a curiosity: strange crafts with disproportionately large heads, twisted arms and short legs. Travelers who visited the countries of Asia and Africa often talked about the inharmoniousness of the music of the natives. The first prime minister of independent India, D. Nehru, who received an excellent European education, admitted that when he first heard European music, it seemed to him funny, like birdsong
In our time ethnic music has become an integral part Western culture, as well as Western clothing, which has replaced traditional clothing in many countries of the world. At the turn of the XX-XXI centuries. obviously a strong influence of African and Asian decorations.
Much more important, however, is the spread of non-traditional philosophical views, religions. For all their exoticism, despite the fact that their acceptance is often dictated by fashion, they affirm in the minds of society the idea of the equivalence of ethnic cultures. According to experts, in the coming decades, the trend towards interpenetration and mutual enrichment of cultures will continue, which will be facilitated by the ease of obtaining and disseminating information. But will there be a merger of nations as a result, will the population of the planet turn into a single ethnic group of earthlings? There have always been different opinions on this matter.
Political events late XX - early XXI centuries, associated with the isolation of ethnic groups and the formation nation states, show that the formation of a single humanity is a very distant and illusory prospect.
1. What was the attitude of Europeans to the works of other cultures in former times? What has it become in our time? Using the text, indicate the reason for maintaining the trend towards interpenetration and mutual enrichment of cultures.
2. In your opinion, is the prospect of turning the planet's population into a single ethnos of earthlings realistic? Explain your opinion. What is the danger of realizing this prospect?
3. What manifestations of the interpenetration of cultures are given in the text? (List four manifestations.)
4. Some countries set up barriers to the spread of foreign cultures. How else can an ethnic group preserve its culture? Using social science knowledge, the facts of social life, indicate three ways.
5. Plan the text. To do this, highlight the main semantic fragments of the text and title each of them.
6. Scientists believe that the progress of technology and technology contributes to the interpenetration of cultures. Based on personal social experience and the facts of public life, illustrate this opinion with three examples.
Text No. 17
main manifestation moral life human is a sense of responsibility to others and to himself. The rules by which people are guided in their relationships constitute the norms of morality; they are formed spontaneously and act as unwritten laws: everyone obeys them as they should. This is both a measure of society's requirements for people, and a measure of reward according to merit in the form of approval or condemnation. The right measure of demand or reward is justice: the punishment of the offender is just; it is unfair to demand more from a person than he can give; there is no justice outside the equality of people before the law.
Morality presupposes relative freedom of will, which provides the possibility of a conscious choice of a certain position, decision-making and responsibility for what has been done.
Wherever a person is connected with other people in certain relationships, mutual obligations arise. A person is motivated to fulfill his duty by his awareness of the interests of others and his obligations towards them. Beyond knowledge moral principles it is also important to experience them. If a person experiences the misfortunes of people as his own, then he becomes able not only to know, but also to experience his duty. In other words, a duty is something that must be performed for moral, and not for legal reasons. From a moral point of view, I must both perform a moral act and have a corresponding subjective frame of mind.
In the system of moral categories, an important place belongs to the dignity of the individual, i.e. her awareness of her public interest and the right to public respect and self-respect.
(According to the materials of the encyclopedia for schoolchildren)
2. The newspaper published untrue information discrediting citizen S. He filed a lawsuit against the newspaper for the protection of honor and dignity. Explain Citizen C's actions. Give a piece of text that may help you explain.
3. The text notes that in addition to knowing moral principles, it is also important to experience them. Based on the text, your own social experience, the knowledge gained, explain why moral feelings are important (name two reasons).
4. Plan the text. To do this, highlight the main semantic fragments of the text and title each of them.
Text No. 18
Culture is often defined as "second nature". Cultural experts usually refer to culture as everything man-made. Nature is made for man; he, working tirelessly, created the "second nature", that is, the space of culture. However, there is a flaw in this approach to the problem. It turns out that nature is not as important for a person as the culture in which he expresses himself.
Culture, first of all, is a natural phenomenon, if only because its creator, man, is a biological creature. Without nature, there would be no culture, because man creates in the natural landscape. He uses the resources of nature, reveals his own natural potential. But if man had not crossed the limits of nature, he would have been left without culture. Culture, therefore, is an act of overcoming nature, going beyond the boundaries of instinct, creating something that can be built on top of nature.
Human creations arise initially in thought, spirit, and only then are embodied in signs and objects. And therefore, in a concrete sense, there are as many cultures as there are creative subjects. Therefore, in space and time there are different cultures, different forms and centers of culture.
How human creation culture surpasses nature, although its source, material and place of action is nature. Human activity is not entirely given by nature, although it is connected with what nature gives in itself. The nature of man, considered without this rational activity, is limited only by the faculties of sense perception and instincts. Man transforms and completes nature. Culture is activity and creativity. From the origins to the sunset of its history, there was, is and will be only a “cultural person”, that is, a “creative person”.
(According to P.S. Gurevich)
1. The writer decided to create a novel about the life of his contemporaries. First, for several months he built the main storyline. After the writer decided on the images of his characters, he set to work, and a year later the novel was published. Which piece of text explains this sequence of actions? What kind of art is represented in this example?
2. Plan the text. To do this, highlight the main semantic fragments of the text and title each of them.
3. What approach to the definition of culture is discussed in the text? What, according to the author, is the disadvantage of this approach?
6. The author uses the phrase "man of culture" in a broad sense. What person in modern conditions, in your opinion, can be called cultural? What do you think parents should do to help their child grow up? cultured person? (Invoking social science knowledge and personal social experience, indicate any one measure and briefly explain your opinion.)
from an exhibition in Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin
text and photo: Vladimir Chernomashentsev
“Art of Tropical Africa from the collection of M.L. and L.M. Zvyagins"
Exhibition at the Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin, Museum of personal collections
The exhibition is open April 29 - August 28, 2011
ATTENTION! The exhibition has been extended until August 28, 2011.
Irina Antonova, the director of the Pushkin Museum, was the first to act as the owner of the museum. Her speech destroyed the notion that Pushkin Museum for the first time it hosts art from the Black Continent within its walls. A new direction for the museum of fine arts turned out to be not so new at all. The first African sculpture first appeared in Russia in the collection of the Moscow collector Sergei Ivanovich Shchukin. He acquired it in the 1910s in Paris on the advice of the artist Pablo Picasso. After the revolution, several African exhibits from the Shchukin collection migrated to the collection Pushkin Museum. Without a full-fledged section of ethnic art, the museum could not exhibit piece sculptures. One can guess that the current exhibition is the most serious display of the very first African exhibits from the museum's collection:
Wooden carvings date from the second half of the 19th century.
Irina Antonova said that museums African art- it is art, not ethnography - a fairly common phenomenon for artistic life Europe and USA. While in the Russian museum space, Africa is a kind of huge "blank spot", so to speak, in relation to the Black Continent. Collection of M.L. and L.M. Zvyaginykh violates such a sad tradition. The highest artistic level of the Zvyagin collection, partly transferred to Pushkin Museum, begins a demonstration of art new to the Russian audience. So far, within the framework of the Museum of Private Collections, but as the museum area expands, it is possible to create a permanent exhibition.
Speech by the Director of the Pushkin Museum Irina Antonova and Leonid Mikhailovich Zvyagin.
As usual, the guest, the founder of the meeting, delivered a reply Leonid Mikhailovich Zvyagin. He discovered the secret of how he managed to make such a strong collection of art far from Russia in a few decades. Turned out extremely interesting point: European purchases of African art began. In the late 80s, L.M. Zvyagin bought his first exhibits in Germany with the proceeds from the sale own paintings. The main backbone of the collection was formed not in Africa, as I thought at first, but in a country even more distant from Russia, but from Africa itself - the USA.
Zvyagin lived for several years in the United States, where he found the richest market for African art. The best samples were exported from the Black Continent, legally and not quite legally - there's nothing to be done, even art attracts dollars. At the opening day, a diplomat representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry spoke with surprise - he had not seen such strong works art that Leonid Mikhailovich Zvyagin was able to select in American antique shops and stores. Surprisingly, in modern world it turns out to be possible to create an excellent collection of African art without wasting time and effort on trips to a distant exotic destination.
Ruler (both) in military attire. Benin, Nigeria. Bronze. Fragment
A musician playing the horn. Benin, Nigeria. Bronze. Fragment
The usual museum interior, which was once the courtyard exterior of a Moscow estate, does not harmonize with African idols and fantastic ritual characters. And only in neutrally designed museum halls do visual contradictions disappear, and then the attention of the audience is focused on the main subject - the Zvyagin collection.
Seated woman with a vessel. Culture of Djenne, Mali. Terracotta.
Mask in the form of a female torso. Yoruba, Nigeria. Tree
mmvo mask. Igbo, Nigeria. Tree. Fragment
The history of the "African Abroad" is calculated in centuries. Africans appeared in Europe with the troops of the Holy Roman Empire in 1210, in America in 1619. The main source of the formation of the African diaspora was slavery. It was from among the slaves that the first European-educated intellectuals emerged. Joao Latino (1516-1594), polymath, scientist, musician, was brought to Spain at the age of twelve with his mother. At the university in Grenada, he studied music, poetry and medicine. J. Latino was the first African to be awarded the degree of bachelor (1546) and the title of professor (1577).
In London in the 18th century, the first of the well-known historical and philosophical treatises written by Africans were published: "Thoughts and Experiences on the Atrocities and Devilish Loads of Slaves and the Trade in Human Species" by Ottoba Cuguano (1787) and "An Entertaining Narrative of the Life of Olauda Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, an African" (1789). Their authors were kidnapped and sold into slavery in 1735 at the age of 10-12, and only after its abolition in Great Britain (1772) did they gain their long-awaited freedom. Both played the role of forerunners in relation to Negritude, Pan-Africanism and Afrocentrism. African philosophers, historians, literary critics, educators, sociologists considered them to be the founders of African science.
The history of the literature of the "African Abroad" is associated with the names of Ignatius Sancho (1729 - 1780) and Phyllis Wheatley (1753 - 1784), a poetess who gained fame in London. I. Sancho's "Letters" (1782), published two years after his death, were regarded as evidence of the author's great literary talent. F. Whitley was born in Senegal, in 1761 she came to Boston as a slave. She wrote odes in the neoclassical style. In 1773 her writings were first published in London. One of the admirers of her talent was General D. Washington, the future US President. She dedicated the following lines to him:
"In the end, you will gain greatness
And you will find the patronage of the goddesses in everything,
Ruler's crown and throne
Yours will be, Washington."
In France, in the 18th century, great-grandfather A.S. Pushkin - Abram Petrovich Hannibal. He came to Paris in 1717, was in poverty. To pay for studies, an apartment, food, funds were required, and Abram joined the ranks of the French army. He served in the engineering units, participated in the capture of Spanish fortresses, was wounded and awarded the rank of lieutenant engineer for his distinctions. His military merit, heroism and rank were taken into account, so that he was accepted as a student and then became a graduate of the higher military engineering school, where foreigners were previously denied access.
In Germany in the 18th century, a native of the Gold Coast (present-day Ghana), poet, philosopher, jurist Anthony Wilhelm Amo gained fame. He studied philosophy and jurisprudence at the University of Halle (1727-1734), received a professorship, held the position of state councilor in Berlin, but returned to his homeland in 1740. A. V. Amo wrote two dissertations: "The rights of Africans in Europe" (1729) and "On the impartiality human consciousness"(1735) - and the treatise "On the Art of Philosophizing Soberly and Competently" (1738). and
In the 19th century, the number of Africans outside of Africa continued to grow. On turn of XIX- In the 20th century, the British musician and composer Samuel Taylor (1875 - 1912) gained world fame. He worked with the best orchestras and choirs, toured a lot, and his trip to the USA caused a real triumph. His contribution to the development of concert music is comparable to the activities of J. Brahms and E. Grieg. Like them, Taylor integrated African folk motifs into classical concert music.
African scientists, poets, musicians were brought up in Europe and America, but still Africa lived in their memories. African culture was for them an abstraction or soil for the rehabilitation of blackness. Meanwhile, it was they who laid the foundation for the development of the culture of the "African abroad" in the second half of the 20th century.
AFRICAN GIRLS PICASSO
I understood what the Negroes used their sculptures for... They were weapons. To help people not fall under the influence of spirits again.
P. PicassoBronze head - a prime example excellence ancient benin masters
Few people know that it was sculpture that opened Africa to the Western cultural world and that it was African sculpture that became one of the founders of contemporary art. And it happened quite recently.
In the collections and museum collections of Europe, sculptural images from Tropical Africa began to appear already in the 18th century, but masterpieces made of wood and metal poured into Europe in a wide stream only in late XIX V. In 1907, a big exhibition dedicated to the culture of the peoples of Africa. The young artist Pablo Picasso, who visited her, was so impressed by what he saw that in a few days he created a masterpiece that was destined to make a real revolution in European art. The painting “The Maidens of Avignon”, painted by him, where the faces of women are stylized as African masks, becomes the first work of cubism, from which new stage development, perception and understanding of art - what we call contemporary art.
The fashion for African sculpture is sweeping Europe, despite the fact that even a few decades before Picasso, Western travelers and missionaries called it nothing more than “primitive” and “ugly”. Of course, everyone has their own views and opinions regarding art and its currents, but African sculpture is neither one nor the other, however, by the standards of European art, it really has a number of features that contrast sharply with our usual and “classical” ideas about sculptural images.
First of all, realism is alien to African sculpture. Images of a person or animal are not at all obliged to convey the correct proportions, on the contrary, the artist highlights those features that seem to him the most important, not paying too much attention to the similarity of the image and nature. Realism, born in Ancient Egypt and for two and a half millennia that reigned in Europe, in Tropical Africa, turned out to be unclaimed in our modern times. For example, in African sculpture, the ratio of the head and body is 1 to 3 or 1 to 2, while the real proportions human body- 1 to 5, and in ancient Greek plastic - even 1 to 6. This was due to the fact that the head, according to African beliefs, contains the divine power and energy of a person. It was the huge heads of African sculptures that caused rejection among European aesthetes of the past, and today they are a widespread reception and visual arts, and graphic illustration around the world. Instead of realism, African sculpture has rich symbolism.
Even the first researchers, including the pioneer in the study of African art, the Russian scientist Vladimir Matvey, noted the diversity and great importance of plastic symbols used in depicting various realities, for example, a shell or a slit instead of an eye. This symbolism comes from simple fact that art for an African is not decorative, as in our culture, but a rich social, religious, spiritual burden. Sculpture is part of faith, not just interior decoration. Therefore, it must carry certain information for the believer, protect him or call. At the same time, the Western connoisseur has always been struck by the accuracy of some details of the sculpture - so incompatible, it would seem, with a general disregard for reality. However, these details - for example, hairstyle, scars on the face and body, jewelry - are important to the African not in themselves, but only as indicators, symbols of social or ethnic status. The viewer must clearly know who exactly this sculpture depicts, and the length of the arms or legs (or even their presence) does not play a key role at all.
African sculpture is completely devoid of the emotional richness that we are accustomed to European art since the time of the Greeks and Etruscans. The facial expressions of ancestors, deities, sacred animals, people are absolutely neutral, postures sculptural compositions are static. Emotional expression, such an important element of the daily life of any African, is almost completely absent, which could not but surprise the first experts who studied African art.
Wooden sculptures of great ancestors - a tradition that lives to this day in the villages of Konso, Ethiopia
Bronze plate from a palace in Benin
African sculpture is also characterized by an extreme degree of conservatism. The path of Europe from Phidias to Rodin, two and a half thousand years long, seems to us a kaleidoscopic change artistic styles. bronze heads archaeological culture Nok, sculpted centuries before new era, look like twins of today's West African statues and masks, as if they were made last week by a Dogon master from Bandiagara. The mystery of this millennial succession continues to amaze researchers around the world.
The first samples of the Nok terracotta jewelry heritage were discovered in 1932: peasants on the Jos Plateau, finding clay figurines in their gardens, usually did not torment themselves with questions about their origin, but adapted them as stuffed animals to scare away birds. The earliest figurines found were carved around the 5th century BC. BC e., the last - 800 years later. However, even after the mysterious fall of the Nok culture, the tradition of sculptural images did not disappear - it was miraculously revived in the 10th century. in culture bronze sculptures Yoruba people in the city of Ile-Ife (Southwestern Nigeria). And although Ile-Ife fell into decay in the 14th century, its sculpture was preserved almost unchanged in the art of Benin, the state of the New Age. Bronze heads, animal figurines, royal regalia made of ivory, bronze and brass are real masterpieces of world art, treasures of museums in Europe and America. Most of the sculptures had a religious significance and were used for funerary cult - as probably the figures of the Nok culture. But Benin both already knew a lot about not only religious symbols but also in aesthetics. Walls, floors and columns in his palace, he ordered to cover with relief metal tiles with hundreds of sculptural images. Here you can see the chronicles of wars, hunting, receiving embassies, some even guess Portuguese guests in wide-brimmed felt hats, curiously examining the capital of Benin.
At the end of the XIX century. the art of Benin perished along with the state conquered by the British. But today's sculptures, used in sacred ceremonies or sold to tourists in shops and airports throughout West Africa, carry all the same canonical features, first sculpted from clay 2500 years before the first duty-free shops appeared.
In addition to the terracotta and metalwork of the masters of Nigeria, we know of several other centers of the ancient sculptural tradition in West Africa. One of them is the production of original brass weights, which flourished in the territory of modern Ghana from the 17th to the beginning of the 20th century. Their initial purpose is very utilitarian - to measure the weight of golden sand, however, weights began to serve as important social accessories (a man who scored a full set was considered wealthy and respected), and even illustrations for legends and myths. Figurines depicting animals, people, deities, various items, keep stories from life, funny anecdotes, rules of behavior in society.
The fall of the Ashanti civilization under the blows of the British at the beginning of the 20th century. forever interrupted this tradition of a kind of "sculptural literature", which has almost no analogues in the world.
Compared with the countries of the western part of the continent, East and South Africa have not preserved such a rich heritage, however, there are examples of a rich sculptural tradition here. One of them is the rich creativity of the Makonde people in Mozambique. It was born not so long ago - in the XVIII century. - and was generated by the high demand of European and Indian merchants for wooden figurines with mythological and everyday scenes. Today, in the era of the modern economy, Makonde carvers are organized into cooperatives that are equally successful in trading their ebony products throughout Mozambique.
A WEIGHT WITH THE IMAGE OF A HORNOCOS AND A SNAKE TELLS A PARABLE ABOUT A BIRD WHO WAS IN NO HURRY TO PAY DEBTS TO THE SNAKE. SHE BELIEVED THAT ANY MOMENT WILL BE ABLE TO FLY AWAY FROM THE CREEPING CREDITOR. BUT THE SNAKE HAVE BEEN PATIENT AND, WAITTING FOR THE HORNBORN TO LOSE VIEW, GRABS IT BY THE NECK. THE PARABLE ENDS WITH THE PROVERB OF THE AKAN PEOPLE: “THE ALTHOUGH THE SNAKE DOES NOT FLY, IT CATCHED THE RHINO, WHOSE HOUSE IS IN THE SKY”, THE MORAL OF WHICH IS A CALL FOR PATIENCE AND OPTIMISM.
Even more ancient are the famous "birds of Zimbabwe" - half a meter stone sculptures from soapstone, mounted on columns on the walls of the Great Zimbabwe, which we talked about earlier, in the "History" chapter. This image - in all likelihood, a fishing eagle - now flaunts on the coat of arms of the Republic of Zimbabwe (together with a Kalashnikov assault rifle). However, apart from it, no sculptural works in the area of the famous ancient city was not found.
One example of exquisite makonde wood sculpture
This, however, does not mean that they did not exist. The lack of our knowledge about the sculpture of other regions of Tropical Africa is primarily due to the fragility of the material - traditionally, sculptural images here were made of wood and other organic materials, which in humid tropical climates quickly fall prey to rot, worms and termites. However, about what sculptural art existed throughout the continent long before the appearance of the first Europeans, can be judged by the rich, not yet fully explored, and therefore mysterious world African masks.
