African art definitions

adobe

a building material made from earth, straw, or clay dried in the sun

Aka

an elephant mask of the bamileke people of Cameroon

Byeri

in the art of the Fang people, a reliquary guardian figure

Bundu

Masks used by women’s sande society to bring girls into puberty

cire perdue

the lost wax process. A bronze casting method in which a figure is modeled in clay and covered with wax and then recovered with clay. When fired in a kiln, the was melts away, leaving a channel between the two layers of clay which can be used as a mold for liquid metal

ikenga

a shrine figure symbolizing traditional male attributes of the Igbo people

Lukasa

a memory board used by the Luba people of central Africa

Mblo

a commemorative portrait of the Baule people

Ndop

a Kuba commemorative portrait of a king in an ideal state

Nkisi n’Kondi

a Kongo power figure

Pwo

a female mask worn by women of the Chokwe people

scarification

scarring of the skin in patterns by cutting with a knife; when the cut heal; a raised pattern is created, which is painted

Torons

wooden beams projecting from walls of adobe building