Day 79 – South African Art

Wrapping up South Africa today, I wanted to briefly talk about the culture there- specifically, art. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_art). A large number of South African blacks live rural, impoverished lives, and it is amongst these people that traditional culture remains the strongest.

Some of the oldest works of art in the world are South African- drilled snail shells used for jewelry from 75,000 years ago have been discovered in a South African cave:

Scattered ancient tribes had their own artistic styles, seen in numerous cave paintings:

In the present era, traditional tribal art forms were affected by the divisive policies of apartheid. New art forms developed, using everything from plastic strips to bicycle spokes. Starting in about 1850, European influence mixed with traditional art, and gave South African art an eclectic style which is still evolving today. Here is an example of modern art in South Africa: 

I think that wraps up my time looking at South Africa - tomorrow I'll move on to a new country! 

Xoxo,

Diana