EXTRA-CREDIT VISIT TO THE MET MUSEUM

Cultural Encounters
and Artistic Production
in Pre-Colonial
Africa
(extra credit assignment number 2)

Location:

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
1000 Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street
New York, New York 10028-0198
General Information: 212-535-7710
TTY: 212-570-3828 or 212-650-2551
Directions by Subway, Bus & Car

Hours:

Tuesday–Sunday  
9:30 a.m.–4:45 p.m. (November–February)
9:30 a.m.–5:15 p.m. (March–October)

You will be going to the "Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas" from
the Permanent Collection on the First Floor

(map of the first floor with location indicated)

Note:

1) This extra-credit assignment, like ALL assignments in this class, must be typed. See handout on class expectations

2) You MUST use blackboard's digital dropbox (details here) to submit this homework. Details on logging on to blackboard here

3) BE SURE TO FOLLOW THE FILE-NAMING CONVENTIONS FOR THIS COURSE.

All files should be named as: your last name, followed by an underscore ("_"), followed by a your first initial, followed by an underscore ("_"), followed by the assignment number.

So if a student named Saddam Hussein was to submit this extracredit assignment number 2, the file name would be:

hussein_s_extracredit1.doc

THIS ASSIGNMENT's file name: extracredit2

Due Date: (via blackboard) Thursday, March 31st by class time

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR GETTING CREDIT:

SAVE THE ORIGINAL OF YOUR PAPER ENTRANCE RECEIPT
AND ATTACH IT TO YOUR WORK WHEN YOU SUBMIT IT.

I NEED MORE THAN THE METAL BUTTON THEY GIVE YOU!

HINT: AT TIMES, I HAVE CHOSEN SOME OF THE LESS FAMOUS PIECES FROM THE COLLECTION FOR THIS ACTIVIY. BE SURE TO LOOK BOTH HIGH AND LOW IN THE CASES. THE BEST OBJECT TO ANSWER THE QUESTION MAY SEEM OBSCURE OR NEGLECTED.

Worth: This extra-credit activity is worth potentially 1 and 1/2 assignments.


Question 1:

Perhaps because they originally had no written tradition, the Akan people
of what is now Ghana placed enormous social emphasis on oral communication.
Accordingly, intellect and social prestige might be revealed and demonstrated by
both eloquence and insight delivered in speech.

Linguists, likewise, played a significant role in Akan courtly life.

Locate an object in the collection that not only speaks to this cultural tradition of the Akan
but also reveals the influence of the Akan encounter with European culture. EXPLAIN why you believe this object responds to the question. USE YOUR OWN WORDS!!!!

Be sure to write down the case in which you found the object

Question 2:

Scholars have often noted the syncretic nature of religion and culture in Africa (syn·cre·tism, noun the attempted combination of different systems of philosophical or religious belief or practice).

The Edo world view during the era of the Benin Kingdom (c.1300 - 1897) was no exception to this characteristic.

Identify a metal object essential to ancestor worship, created before 1700 in the Kingdom of Benin, that -- in an example of syncretism - symbolically incorporates the Portuguese into local African sacred thought and practice. EXPLAIN why you believe this object responds to the question. USE YOUR OWN WORDS!!!! BE SURE THAT YOUR OBJECT WAS USED IN ANCESTOR WORSHIP.

Be sure to write down the case in which you found the object

Question 3:

Early European explorers and traders were deeply impressed by the artistic skill of the Africans they encountered along the West Coast of the continent.

Find a non-metal object from before 1600 that demonstrates the extent to which Europeans valued the skill of African artists in this period. EXPLAIN why you believe this object responds to the question. AGAIN, THE OBJECT ITSELF MUST BE EVIDENCE OF THE EUROPEANS VALUING OF THE SKILLS OF AFRICANS. AN OBJECT THAT MERELY IMPRESSED EUROPEANS AT THE TIME WILL NOT WORK.

USE YOUR OWN WORDS!!!!

Be sure to write down the case in which you found the object