Abstract
Gendercentric models are rife in African studies, and African art historical studies are no exception. Approaches that assume a gender-dichotomized view of society are necessarily male-dominant, because in our time, patriarchy is the main expression of gender divisions. Two claims emerge from this biased branding of African art: first, that traditionally in Africa only men make art or engage in the production of important art; and second, that materials for making art are gender-specific: metals are for men, clay is for women, so goes the refrain. In fact, the second claim is actually expressed as a restriction against women’s use of iron, and there is no obverse understanding that men are or can be constrained from using any material, including clay. Being male is assumed to be, everywhere in “traditional Africa,” a mark of privilege, if not license. The effect of this antifemale stance is to place women at the receiving end of the gaze.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abiodun, Rowland. 1989. Woman in Yorùbá religious images. Journal of African Cultural Studies 2(1): 1–18.
Abiodun, Rowland. 1994. Introduction: An African (?) art history: Promising theoretical approaches in Yorùbá studies. In The Yorùbá Artist: New Theoretical Perspectives on African Arts, ed. Rowland Abiodun, Henry Drewal, and John Pemberton, 37–48. Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press.
Abiodun, Rowland, Henry Drewal, and John Pemberton, ed. 1994. The Yorùbá Artist: New Theoretical Perspectives on African Arts. Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press.
Adepegba, C. O. 1991. Yorùbá Metal Sculpture. Ibadan, Nigeria: Ibadan University Press.
Berns, Marla. 1993. Art, history and gender: Women and clay in West Africa. African Archaeological Review 11: 129–48.
Biebuyck, Daniel. 1969. Tradition and Creativity in Tribal Art. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Campbell, Bolaji. 2008. Painting for the Gods: Art and Aesthetics of Yorùbá Religious Murals. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press.
Drewal, Henry. 1989. Ife: Origins of art and civilization. In Nine Centuries of Yorùbá Art and Thought, ed. Allen Wardwell. New York: The Center for African Art and Harry N. Abrams.
Drewal, Henry, John Pemberton III, and Rowland Abiodun. 1989. In Nine centuries of Yorùbá Art and Thought, ed. Allen Wardwell. New York: The Center for African Art and Harry N. Abrams.
Herreman, Frank, ed. 2003. Material Differences: Art and Identity in Africa. New York: Museum of African Art.
Lawal, Babatunde. 2001. Aworan: Representing the self and its metaphysical other in Yorùbá art. The Art Bulletin LXXXIII (3).
Olabimtan, Afolabi, ed. 1986. Akojopo Iwadii Ijinle Asa Yorùbá. Ibadan, Nigeria: Macmillan.
Oyĕwùmí, Oyèrónké. 1997. The Invention of Women: Making an African Sense of Western Gender Discourses. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Vogel, Jerome. 2003. African Ceramics. In Material Differences: Art and Identity in Africa. New York: Museum of African Art. Edited by Frank Herreman,
Walker, Roslyn Adele. 1994. Anonymous Has a Name: Olowe of Ise. In the Yoruba Artist: New Theoretical Perspectives on African Art, edited by Rowland Abiodun, Henry J. Drewal and John Pemberton, 91–106, Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press.
Westcott, J. A., and Peter Morton-Williams. 1958. The festival of Iyamapo. Nigeria Magazine 58: 212–24.
Willett, Frank. 1967. Ife in the History of West Africa. New York: McGraw Hill Book Company.
Yai, Olabiyi. 1994. In praise of metonymy: The concepts of “tradition” and “creativity” in the transmission of Yorùbá artistry over time and space. In The Yorùbá Artist: New Theoretical Perspectives on African Arts, ed. Rowland Abiodun, Henry Drewal, and John Pemberton, 107–118. Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2011 Oyèrónkẹ́ Oyĕwùmí
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Oyĕwùmí, O. (2011). Beyond Gendercentric Models: Restoring Motherhood to Yorùbá Discourses of Art and Aesthetics. In: Oyĕwùmí, O. (eds) Gender Epistemologies in Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230116276_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230116276_11
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-38475-4
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-11627-6
eBook Packages: Palgrave Social Sciences CollectionSocial Sciences (R0)