Gender and Power in West African Art

by / On November 5, 2020 / In Art, MLA

Topic: Gender and Power in the Mende People’s Sande Society and the artworks.(Please form a catching title).
GUIDELINES:
Choose three examples of West African art that fit within an overall theme. You will need to compare and contrast the role and significance of these artworks, illustrating that you have an understanding of their meaning and value in their original cultural context. Through this comparison, you should illustrate how each artwork relates to your theme. At least ONE of your examples must be an art form that we did NOT discuss in class. Some possible themes are as follows: gender and power, tradition and change, art and religion/the spirit world, art and political power and art and European influences.

For example, I could select cross-cultural exchange and the importance of change as my theme and compare/contrast a Sande society Sowo Wui, a Baule blolo bian (both discussed in class) and a Yoruba aso-oke cloth (an artwork we did not examine in class). Remember, West Africa includes the following countries: Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Liberia, Cte dIvoire, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Senegal, and Mali.

BASIC GUIDELINES:
– 6 8 pages double-spaced, 12 point Times New Roman font, 1 margins on ALL sides.
– Include page numbers at the bottom right.
– Provide images of the artwork you will be discussing. These images should be included
in the paper (but they do not count towards page length).

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
This paper will be based on your own research. Using online databases like JSTOR, find at least THREE sources for your topic. Your sources should be scholarly articles (articles in popular sources like Time magazine, newspapers, or online blogs do not qualify).

CITATIONS:
Be careful to cite your sources; never present someone elses information or ideas as your own. Whether you are paraphrasing a persons arguments or quoting them directly, you need to cite the source. After each quoted or paraphrased piece of information, insert a footnote (Author, date, and page number, for example: Smith 1984: 12)

READING IS ATTACHED, BUT ALSO PLEASE RESEARCH ON YOUR OWN AND SOURCES MUST BE SCHOLARY.