African Dream Machines takes African headrests out of the category of functional objects and into the more rarefied category of ‘art’ objects. Styles in African headrests are usually defined in terms of western art and archaeological discourses, but this book interrogates these definitions of style and demonstrates the shortcomings of defining a single formal style model as exclusive to a single ethnic group.
Among the artefacts made by southern African peoples, headrests were the best known. Anitra Nettleton’s study of the uses and forms of headrests opened up a number of art-historical methodologies in the attempt to gain an understanding of form, style and content in African art objects. Her drawings of each and every headrest encountered become a major part of the project.
About the author
Anitra Nettleton was the Chair and Director of the Centre for Creative Arts of Africa at the Wits Art Museum (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg) until her retirment in 2016. Instrumental in founding the Standard Bank Collection of African Art at the Wits Art Museum in 1978, she has curated many exhibitions, and taught at Wits University for 35 years.More ebooks from the same author(s) / Editor
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