Cloth, Dress and Art Patronage in Africa / Edition 1

by Judith Perani, Norma Wolff, Joanne B. Eicher

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781859732908
Publisher:	Berg Publishers
Publication date:	03/01/1999
Series:	Dress, Body, Culture
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.56(d)
Lexile:	1490L (what's this?)

About the Author

Judith Perani Ohio University Norma H. Wolff Iowa State University

Table of Contents

	Introduction	1
Part 1	The Impact of Patronage on the Arts of Africa
1	Art Patronage as a Generator of Cloth and Dress	9
2	Cloth and Dress as a Mirror of Culture in Africa	25
3	Art Patron Roles	49
4	Leadership Arts in State Societies	81
Part 2	The Development of Hausa, Nupe and Yoruba Cloth and Dress Traditions
5	Historical Context of Leadership, Trade and Art Patronage	105
6	Patterns of Production and Consumption in Nineteenth-Century Luxury Cloth Traditions	131
7	Continuity and Change in Twentieth-Century Cloth Traditions	153
8	The Fashionable World of the Yoruba	171
	Postscript: To Put on Cloth	189
	Bibliography	193
	Index	209

Editorial Reviews

Rich details from the West African literature and the authors' own research in contemporary Nigeria illustrate the many ways that cloth mediates social circumstance.

Choice

Edited by the astute fashion historian Valerie Steele, the journal sets out to prove that fashion resonates in our culture.

Washington Post

"Rich details from the West African literature and the authors' own research in contemporary Nigeria illustrate the many ways that cloth mediates social circumstance." --Choice

From the Publisher