Viewing page 22 of 37

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

intimacy) with the art and thought of the ancient Egyptians and

Sufists, the Adinkra, Bakota, Bakuba, Ashanti, Fulani, Senufo, 

Yoruba and Ibo--all of whose images appear in endless combinations

in the work of the school... it is a school engaged in elemental

innovation: the symbolic use of high energy colors....... the

physical rhythms of geometric design. ...This geometric and icono-

graphic symbolism can read like poetry.

    The consensus shared by the artists on questions of formal elements

and systems of relationships is reflected in a wide range of stylistic 

variants, presenting a compelling challenge to the growing numbers of

scholars in the new field. The historian, Rosalind Jeffries, has

identified several major trends in TransAfrican Art, including: 

    Syncretism - reconciliation of design principles and components 
                 of two or more direct lineage

    Improvisation- reflecting a sense of play and of moving in and
                   out of old and current stylistic tendencies while
                   maintaining an Afrocentric ambiance. 

    Double-Consciousness - Association with overt and disguised
                           symbolism, having levels of meaning
                           beyond the immediately visible, often
                           tied to philosophical ideas. 

    Cultural Pluralism - fusion of multicontinental principles and
                         elements in the context of TransAfrican
                         stylistic innovation as in contemporary 
                         music.

    The wide range of directions in this new art is echoed in the

widespread dispersal of adherents to the style. 

    Over the past twenty years, opportunities for travel abroad and

exchange programs have greatly increased contacts between artists

in the U.S. and those of other lands. At the same time the Third 

World experience has laid bare the common basis for struggle among

African people everywhere.