Africa, 1100–1980 CE
What this domain tests
African art across regions and media: terracotta and bronze casting, lost-wax technique, royal regalia, masquerade, reliquary figures, textiles, architecture in earth (banco, adobe). Concepts: performance-based art (masks activated by dance and music), commission and kingship, spiritual mediation, idealized form, asymmetry and balance, and modern African modernism (e.g., studio-trained artists negotiating tradition and modernity).
Traps
- A mask is not a sculpture to hang; its meaning is realized in performance - costume, motion, sound. Questions often test this.
- Lost-wax casting produces a unique cast per wax model; it is not mold-repetition.
- Idealization in African figures (smooth surfaces, composed proportions) signals status and spiritual composure, not "simplicity."
- Avoid attributing works to "Africa" as one culture - identify kingdom, region, or people where the question supports it.
Rule of thumb
Ask who commissioned it, who wears or carries it, and in what performance or ritual does it act? Agency and use define African art questions.
Worked example
A carved wooden face with elongated features is a mask whose power emerges in masquerade performance - the carving is only one component.