Libraries HomeMasks and Meaning: African Art and Society
Selected Bibliography
The following is a list of suggested materials on African art. This is just a small sample of existing materials. To find additional articles, books, etc., use the resources included in Masks and Meaning Research Tips.
Selected Journals
These are core journals in African Studies and African art. If you are interested in a general overview or current trends in these areas, browsing these journals can be useful. However, if you are looking for articles on a specific topic, using one of the article databases recommended on the Research Tips page will help you do an thorough and more efficient search for materials.
African Arts. (Los Angeles, African Studies Center, UCLA.)
AAA NX 587 .A4 (online 1990- in Academic Search Premier)
African studies quarterly. (Gainsville, Fla., University of Florida, Center for African Studies.)
http://web.africa.ufl.edu/asq/index.htm.
African studies review. (Waltham, Mass, African Studies Association.)
KNIGHT DT 1. A2293.
Journal des africanistes. (Paris, Societe des africanistes.)
KNIGHT DT 1 .S65.
Journal of African history. (London, Cambridge University Press.)
KNIGHT DT 1 .J65 (also full text online 1997-, linked from the library catalog.)
Res. (Cambridge, Mass, Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, Harvard Univ.)
AAA N 5310.7 .R47
selected books
These are just some of the books that we own on Art and Africa. Be sure to use our catalog to find more materials on your topic.
Abiodun, Rowland, Henry J. Drewal, and John Pemberton III, eds. The Yoruba artist : new theoretical perspectives on African arts. Washington : Smithsonian Institution Press, 1994.
AAA NX 589.6 .N5 Y67 1994.
Armstrong, Robert Plant. The powers of presence : consciousness, myth, and affecting presence. Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, 1981.
KNIGHT NB 1098 .A753.
Brain, Robert. Art and society in Africa. London ; New York : Longman, 1980.
AAA N 7380.B64.
Cole, Herbert M. and Chike C. Aniakor. Igbo arts : community and cosmos. Los Angeles, Calif. : Museum of Cultural History, UCLA, 1984.
AAA N 7399.N5C64 1984.
DeMott, Barbara. Dogon masks : a structural study of form and meaning. Ann Arbor, Mich. : UMI Research Press, 1982.
AAA DT 551.42 .D45 1982.
Faik-Nzuji, Clementine M. Tracing memory : a glossary of graphic signs and symbols in African art and culture. Hull, Quebec : Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1996.
AAA N 7380 .F34 1996.
Fraser, Douglas and Herbert M. Cole, ed. African art & leadership. Madison, University of Wisconsin Press, 1972.
KNIGHT N 7398 .F725.
Hackett, Rosalind I. J. Art and religion in Africa. London ; New York : Cassell, 1996.
AAA N 72.R4 H25 1996.
Mark, Peter. The wild bull and the sacred forest : form, meaning, and change in senegambian initiation masks. Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 1992.
KNIGHT DT 549.45 .D56 M38 1992.
Nunley, John W. Moving with the face of the devil : art and politics in urban West Africa. Urbana : University of Illinois Press, 1987.
KNIGHT GN 655 .S5 N85 1987.
Stanley, Janet L., ed. The arts of Africa : an annotated bibliography. Atlanta, Ga. : African Studies Association, 1989.
AAA Z 5961 .A35 S72 1989 vols. 1-4
Willet, Frank. African art : an introduction. New York, N.Y. Thames and Hudson, 1993.
AAA N 7380 .W5 1993.
selected exhibition books
Museum exhibition catalogs, in addition to have a wealth of photographs, have information about the objects in the exhibit. They also typically include substantial thematic essays providing contextual information about the objects.
Anderson, Martha G. and Christine Mullen Kreamer. Wild spirits, strong medicine : African art and the wilderness. Seattle : University of Washington Press, c1989.
AAA N 7391.65 .A5 1989.
Cole, Herbert M. Icons : ideals and power in the art of Africa. Washington : National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution Pr., 1990.
AAA N 7391 .65 .C63 1989.
Herrerman, Frank and Constantijn Petridis, eds. Face of the spirits : masks from the Zaire Basin. Gent : Snoeck-Ducaju, c1993.
AAA NB 1099 .Z28 F33 1993.
Lamp, Frederick. Art of the Baga : a drama of cultural reinvention. New York : Museum for African Art, 1996.
AAA DT 543.45 .B33 L35 1996.
Masked rituals of Afikpo, the context of an African art : published in connection with an exhibition shown at the Henry Art Gallery, Univ. of Wash., May 24-June 21, 1975 . Seattle : University of Washington Press, 1975
KNIGHT DT 515.42 .O89.
Nooter, Mary H. Secrecy : African art that conceals and reveals. New York : Museum for African Art, c1993.
AAA N 7391 .65 .S43 1993.
Ottenberg, Simon. New traditions from Nigeria : seven artists of the Nsukka group. Washington : Smithsonian Institution Pr, National Museum of African Art, c1997.
AAA N 7399 .N52 N786 1997.
Roberts, Allen F. Animals in African art : from the familiar to the marvelous. New York : The Museum for African Art, c1995.
AAA N 7380.5 .R63 1995.
Roberts, Mary N. and Allen F. Roberts. Memory : Luba art and the making of history. New York : Museum for African Art, c1996.
AAA N 7399 .C6 M46 1996.
Roberts, Mary N. and Allen F. Roberts. The shape of belief : African art from the Dr. Michael R. Heide collection. San Francisco : Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, c1996.
AAA N 7398 .F56 1996.
Sieber, Roy and Roslyn Adele Walker. African art in the cycle of life. Washington, D.C. : National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Press, c1987.
AAA NB 1091.65. S54 1987.
Thompson, Jerry L. and Susan Vogel. Closeup : lessons in the art of seeing African sculpture from an American collection and the Horstmann collection. New York : Center for African Art, 1990.
AAA NB 1080 .T48 1990.
Walker, Roslyn Adele. Olowe of Ise : a Yoruba sculptor to kings. Washington : National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, c1998.
AAA NB 1099 .N53 O462 1998.
Williams, Sylvia H. and David C. Driskell. Astonishment and power. Washington : National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution Pr., 1993.
AAA N 6537 .S77 A4 1993.
Image Collections
In addition to the below resources, the library has a Visual Resource Center with an extensive slide collection.
Art and Life in Africa. Iowa City, Iowa, Art and Life in Africa Project, University of Iowa. 1998.
AAA CDROM N72.A78 1998.
This CD contains over 10,000 images of 600 objects and 750 field photos; 107 ethnographies; 27 ethnographic maps;
1400 entries in a bibliographic database; 11 chapters; 36 video and music clips.
African Art Museum: Online reference to the artistic styles of Africa
This site has images and other information about African masks organized by tribe.
Last Modified: 01/23/2007
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