Contemporary African art is still highly underrepresented and misunderstood in the Western world. Drawing inspiration from traditional African artistic practices, contemporary African art is transformed by globalization. The mixture of traditional and contemporary elements remains one of the main characteristics of an art genre that is (despite many attempts) impossible to categorize.
History of Contemporary African Art
Contemporary African art is an art of upheaval and modernization. It usually encompasses art made in postcolonial times, but some believe that art by all African artists born after 1970 falls under the category. The term refers to art from Sub-Saharan Africa that is vastly different from the art made in Europe and the Middle East-influenced northern part of the continent.
Artists who grew up in the 1970s have developed a much different expression than their predecessors because this was the time of optimism and liberation, the period when many African nations declared independence from their colonial rulers. Contemporary African art depicts this exciting period. Artists deal with an array of issues affecting life in the postcolonial era…
