African Aesthetics
Artefacts from Africa exhibit their cultural context. Indeed, there is value in emphasizing formal aesthetics of objects and their expression of the religious and moral values (Ray, 1993)
There is a moral basis in African aesthetics. One term that epitomises such truth is that in many African languages, there is a common usage of the same word that means good and beautiful. This is in line with the meaning of African Art that is meant to be good and beautiful too. Ideally, it is attractive to the eye and emphatic on morals. The religious and ethical basis of African art explains why the central subject is the figure of a human being. The art usually appears in ritualistic contexts that have to do with the spiritual and moral ideals of humans (Ray, 1993)
It is of essence to show African sculpture such as head dresses and masks at eye level since that is how they are viewed on dancer's heads. African artists have a way of making the headgear as attractive as it can be. They also seek to capture the various aspects as the dancer turns and moves around before their audience (Ray, 1993).
The Great Zimbabwe
The Great Zimbabwe has been lauded as the biggest complex stone carving in the Southern part of African. The name Zimbabwe is derived from Shona and Dzimba, which means a house made of stone. The Great Zimbabwe ruins are evident of an early sophistication in civilization (SAHO, 2011).
Cecil Rhodes occupied preset day Zimbabwe and made it a colony. The area was formerly referred to as Rhodesia for many years until its independence in 1980. Africans lost their rights to own land during the colonial era. They also lost their heritage under imperialism. Although there is sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the Great Zimbabwe was carved by African people, the colonial regime made frantic attempts to conceal such knowledge from the public (SAHO, 2011).
Cecil Rhodes, with like-minded colonial administrators did not want to believe that Africans had such ingenious art skills. Cecil went further to try and corrupt the truth by employing Theodore, a miner, to show that either Phoenicians or Arabs had carved the artefact. Although the colonial government tried desperately to suppress the artistic ingenious and heritage of the people of Zimbabwe, the iconic Great Zimbabwe eventually became evidence and an emphatic demonstration of the achievement and resistance of the African people. The Great Zimbabwe became a symbol of Nationalist resistance against colonial rule and occupation in the 60s and 70s. Zimbabwe managed to attain its independence later and reclaimed its heritage and history. The Great Zimbabwe is a symbol of freedom and the re-emergence of a new state. The state has made no secret of the same by making it an emblem on the banknotes and the national flag.
Trade at the Great Zimbabwe
The original Great Zimbabwe was an affluent centre with an abundance of farming products. It was also a functional link between the inland people's and the Sofala Swahili Kingdom along the Mozambican coast. The Sofala people had experience of trade with East Africans and those of China and India. Several artefacts authenticating such interactions bear testimony to a once prosperous nation. They point to the fact that Great Zimbabwe was an essential centre of trade. One such artefact is a Persian glazed bowl. There are also dishes from the Chinese; many glass beads, cowrie and coral shells, and a coin from Portugal. It is believed that it may have come from Kilwa; a major trading center along the coast of East Africa.
Shona society had a long history of Gold trade and mining. They sold it to the people from the East African coast. Historians estimate that over 1200 reefs of gold had been exploited in the central plateau before the onset of commercial mining of minerals in 1890. The Shona used gold largely for trade purposes. Other notable products in the Shona commercial activities include cotton, ivory, and weaving of cloth. The wealthy people imported fine cloth through the East African coast.
The Kingdom of Zimbabwe ended approximately 1450 AD. It has been speculated that the end was a result of the exhaustion of resources among other reasons. It is possible that people moved to new areas in searc of fresh grazing land (SAHO, 2011)
Conical tower at Great Zimbabwe (Wikipedia)
The Great Zimbabwe was abandoned and parts of the iconic times can be seen in ruins. Many of the structures still stand today though. UNESCO has formally recognized the site as a World...
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