AP Art History - African Art

Some scholars have indicated that leopard designs were included on the beaded Aka elephant mask from Cameroon for which of the following reasons?

• To further advance the divine power of the Fon (king)

• To symbolize coexistence within the animal kingdom

• To increase the likelihood for a successful hunt

• To represent the creative power of the artist

The artist who created the Benin bronze wall plaque from Oba’s palace used which of the following techniques to show the importance of the Oba?

• Linear perspective

• Scarification

• Continuous narration

• Hierarchical scale

Access to the copper and tin needed to fabricate the brass wall plaque of the Oba’s palace was made possible among the Edo peoples of Benin due to their

• warfare with central African kingdoms

• trade with Portuguese voyagers

• routes across the Sahara desert

• travels to the Indian subcontinent

In Mende culture, the Bundu mask, as a part of a masquerade ritual related to gender roles, is worn by the

• female elders, who serve as teachers and mentors during the girls’ initiation

• initiates’ parents, who ceremonially dedicate their sons to a trade or profession

• senior members of a secret society, who select young male candidates for initiation

• male leaders, who select young women for training as Bundu mask carvers

Art historians interpret the neck rings on the Bundu mask shown as symbolizing

• jewelry worn by young women during the masquerade

• the identity of the mask’s creator and the date of creation

• healthy body fat and ripples of water

• the knowledge and wisdom of male ancestors

Answer explanation

The ripples on the Bundu mask symbolize the rise of the female spirit out of the waters. These bumps are the ripples of the water. They can also represent large fat rolls of a healthy woman (symbolizing fertility)

Fang byeri figures were intended to function as

• talismans

• reliquaries

• staff gods

• shrines

Ikenga figures, created by the Igbo peoples of Nigeria, are being interpreted as

• portraits of the people for whom they are carved

• reliquaries for the bones of the patron after death

• symbols of the patron’s past and future successes

• representations of the patron’s hoped-for children

Which of the following is a feature of the lukasa of the Luba peoples that is derived from the Luba tradition of oral, rather than written, history?

• The history recorded on the lukasa had to be read the same way in every telling.

• The arrangement of each lukasa was determined by each of the experts who used them.

• The objects that made up the lukasa had to be periodically adjusted as events occurred.

• The lukasa had to be small enough for the person telling the history to hold comfortably.

In this Kuba sculpture of a king, the proportion of the head is exaggerated to show

• a royal relationship with infants and rebirth

• the pride of royalty in their elite status

• the value place on intelligence in leaders

• the personal style of the artist

The Ndop portrait of King Mishe miShyaang maMbul demonstrates continuity within Kuba traditional sculpting conventions through its

• multiple nails or pointed objects driven into the figure

• inclusion of a female figure towering over the seated king

• rounded contours, facial expression, body position, and regalia

• use of fabric and glass beads representing elephant ears and trunk