World Arts: Africa, Oceania and Native America

Abstract

This piece of study aims to talk about World Arts, particularly that of Africa, Oceania, and Native America. The motive here is to briefly describe numerous major aspects of Non-Western Art. Moreover, the paper aims to chose one art object from the society and describe briefly the objects original context. Further, focus is also given on two things that can be learned from that art object. Particularly, African American art and culture is being discussed here, and the major aspects such as Black Arts movement, Black Nationalism, earliest African-American communities, and African-American cultural development are also included in the paper.

Introduction

The art objects of “Non-Western Art” can be defined as any art objects that are originated from the societies and cultures outside of the Western World. The Western World includes all the major cultures of Europe, and the arts that are utilized by European aesthetics. In this regard, the arts of colonized areas such as Australia, United States, Canada, and New Zealand are considered as Western Art. However, the arts that are related to the native people of the fore mentioned countries can be referred to as “Non-Western Art”. Further, the art created by non-western cultures were set aside and admired in special places for protection, such as the places of ruler's palaces and places of worship. Western cultures thus also followed this tradition of protecting their art works in museums, where not only people can see great works of numerous great artists, but the art objects are also kept saved and protected. In addition to this, the art objects in non-western cultures is more than often used in everyday life, such as for household and for spiritual rituals. Learning about non-Western art would lead in learning that there are numerous of the great religions in the world that are critically important for billions of people globally.

Discussion

The stories of African American collaboration—particularly the coalitions of artists and activists who worked in formal organizations and in informal communities to articulate goals and to promote progress towards racial equality, spiritual maturity, social competence, and self-esteem—are less well known in our culture than those of the rugged individualists who succeeded against the odds.1 Particularly in narratives of African American cultural history before Emancipation, the lone fugitive, the fiery rebel, the singular sojourner, or the inspired visionary dominates our attention. Our narratives of racial progress generally feature a heroic Moses while making it seem that half of his challenge was convincing those he would rescue that if they stopped acting like crabs in a barrel, they could become a people with a purpose.

African-American cultural development

The centers of U.S. economic and artistic dominance were generally in the urban Northeast and above the Mason-Dixon Line. England and its traditions, while not the sole source from which U.S. America developed its philosophical and artistic concepts, had an unusually significant impact. Thus, it makes sense to assume, as most people do, that much of African American cultural development, including its concepts of family, friendship, ...