Hair in African Art and Culture (African, Asian & Oceanic Art) [Hardcover]

Roy Sieber (Editor), Frank Herreman (Editor)

Book Description

Series: African, Asian & Oceanic Art | Publication Date: January 2003

In the West, hairstyle choices range from the purely functional to the complex fashion statement. This books shows how in the African continent their significance is far greater. Hair can be an indicator of age, authority, social status and religious affiliation as well as part of a long tradition of aesthetic adornment or a strictly contemporary style statement. In some cultures hair itself is used as a potent substance with supernatural powers. The significance of hair in African art and life through the centuries is explored in this book through photographs, masks and figures, combs, hairpins, beads, headrests and painted barber shop signs.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Published to accompany an exhibition at the Museum of African Art in New York, already hailed as one of the must-sees of the year 2000, this lavishly illustrated volume provides a long overdue summary of this fascinating topic. The enormous significance of hair in African art and life through the centuries is explored through photographs, masks, fugures, combs, hairpins, beads, hairdresses, and painted barber shop signs. Hairstyles among the diaspora, especially the African-American community, are explored, and cross-cultural influences traced. Field photographs show the use of hairstyles depicted in traditional artworks. Techniques of styling and adornment in the creaion of contemporary coiffures is also examined.

From the Author

Roy Sieber, one of the world's leading ethnologists, is a professor at the University of Indiana, having spent many years at the National Museum for African Art in Washington DC and lectures in both the U.S. and Africa.

Frank Herreman is the Director of Exhibitions at the Museum for African Art. He is also the author of "Liberated Voices" a newly published book detailing contemporary South African artists and their works.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Prestel; illustrated edition edition (January 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3791322915
• ISBN-13: 978-3791322919
• Product Dimensions: 12.1 x 9.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.3 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,939,230 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)