First published 2016
Christopher Steiner investigates the commercial networks and cultural exchanges that transformed African art from local creation to international commodity. Rather than analyzing aesthetic qualities or symbolic meanings, Steiner traces the historical forces that shaped how African communities produced, preserved, and marketed their artworks to both nearby and distant buyers. He examines how market demands shifted artistic styles and cultural values across changing historical periods. The book showcases pieces from the Royal Ontario Museum's Amrad African Art collection, primarily twentieth century works that demonstrate creative accomplishments during the global expansion of African art markets. Steiner draws on extensive fieldwork by anthropologists and art historians to reveal how African creators and merchants influenced Western perceptions of their cultural productions. His analysis shows how artistic works functioned simultaneously as expressions of local heritage and as goods circulating through international trade systems that often stripped away their original cultural contexts.
Genres: art, 20th-century, 21st-century, art-history, africa, cultural-studies
Vibes: academic, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: academic, cultural-analysis
Setting: Africa, Royal Ontario Museum
Period: 20th Century, 21st Century
416 pages · Hardcover · Royal Ontario Museum