The Art Exposure Blog

This artwork was painted in the year 2000 by John Essilfie Junior. The art is a symbol depicting our local celebration. There is no way you can term a celebration a Traditional celebration without the drummers. In Africa, drummers are very important aspects of our culture and most importantly in our festivities. In the royal palaces of the tribes in Ghana, West Africa, different types of drums are used depending on the occasion and different drummers are assigned to these drums because only these drummers understand their drum and will know what to play at what particular time during an occasion. Drums also are used to send messages across to people. For example in the Akan tribe in Ghana, they have drummers that handle the talking drum. The talking drum is used to send a message whiles it’s been played. With the talking drum, we have two drummers, one that plays the drum and the other that interprets what the drum is saying. In the Northern part of Ghana also, drummers are

Art is universally a means of glorifying persons of rank. The presence of objects elaborately carved in such precious materials as gold , silver , or ivory usually indicates the presence of a ruling class, surplus wealth, and the wherewithal to employ specialized craftsmen. In Africa, most lost-wax bronze castings, for example, require a highly specialized production technique and although it is not an art entirely restricted to kingdoms, it receives its greatest elaboration where the chief or a wealthy caste can afford to maintain a group of specialized artists. In Benin the privilege of working bronze was reserved for a special corporation who lived in a special quarter of the town and who came under the control of the Oba - the ruler. Among the Bamileke , artists were thought of and treated as servants, even slaves, of their chiefs in whose palaces they lived and through whom they sold their work. In these situations African art is not the result of "instinct" - captur

Art as an African is an essential part of who we are. On the onset as a child you are being educated about some basic part of our culture that will aid your acceptance and survival in our society. For example how you relate with those older than you, how you must refer to them in certain patterns of conversation etc. Now visual art (eg. painting) has helped maintain and preserved our culture. For example when you visit some of the art centers in Accra, you will see paintings that tell stories from our history and helps you understand and even go deep into the story because the more you stare at the painting, the more elements you see that opens your mind to understand certain activities that took place in our country many years ago. Artist in Ghana or across the continent of Africa have used this medium as a way to let foreigners understand some  elements of history in their culture. These artists who create such illustrations through art have helped to spread African storie