African Mud Cloth

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African Mud Cloth
Getting to Know the Worlds Great Artists
African Mud Painting
Tulsa Public Schools-Seventh Grade Visual Arts
Assessment
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African Mud Cloth
Getting to Know the Worlds Great Artists
African Mud Painting
Oklahoma Fine Arts Standard Two Visual Art
History and Culture
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African Mud Cloth
Getting to Know the Worlds Great Artists
African Mud Painting
You will look at the work of the Ndbele African
culture. The artists in this culture all use
color and pattern to enhance their homes, their
clothing and their lives. .
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African Mud Cloth
African Mud Cloth
Oklahoma Fine Arts Standard Two Visual Art
History and Culture
The student will recognize the development of
Visual Art from an historical and cultural
perspective.
Describe and place a variety of specific
significant art objects by artist, style and
historical and cultural contest Identify themes
and purposes of works of art and artifacts in
history and culture Demonstrate a basic
knowledge of several fields of art such as
painting, sculpture, drawing, computer graphics,
printmaking, architecture, and fiber
arts Identify how visual art is used in todays
world including the popular media of
advertising, television, and film
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Introducing the Art Work of the Ndebele People
South Africa is home to some of the most ancient
and beautiful art in the world The Ndebele people
of South Africa live in a region called The
Transvaal.
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Introducing the Art Work of the Ndebele People
They make art work of all kinds. Their vibrant
colors and symbolic repeated patterns are
distinctively African. Whether they are
decorating fabric, pottery or even the walls of
their homes they are much appreciated all around
the world.
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This is an example of the Ndebele Mud Cloth
Painting. How was it made? The Ndebele use the
concept of repetition of shapes to create a
pattern. Here you see the bars of yellow, blue
and brown colors repeated.
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The artist has also repeated the leaf pattern and
the geometric design within the bars. Often the
design shapes are taken from nature such as
leaves, waves, lightning, insects, fish or other
animals.
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This pattern is more intricate but is still based
upon repetition of symbols found in nature.
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After the artist decides on his or her symbols
he/she sketches those onto the cloth or fabric.
Then they mix clay or mud with lots of water and
make a thick, gravy-like paste. Where ever they
wish the white of the cloth to remain, they paint
with the mud. Here the white is within the
lightning bolts and at the very bottom where the
bird symbols are located.
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When the mud dries, the artist paints on the
other colors. This pillow has several colors of
brown and black. He or she paints those colors
in where he or she chooses. If some paint gets on
the mud areas, that is ok because the mud will
shield the cloth from paint.
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When the paint is dry, the artist brushes off the
mud from the white area and then washes the
pillow to set the paint.
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The white dots and curvy white lines were done
with a tube much like a glue bottle.
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This mud cloth can be ordered over the internet.
African artists today are making a living selling
their work around the world.
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This man has put together several different
patterns of textiles.
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This woman poses with her colorful textiles in
front of her beautifully painted home.
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These people also reflect the beautiful bright
colors of their home with the choices of clothing
and accessories they are wearing.
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Many people around the world decorate their homes
both inside and outside.
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In Africa, the Ndebele People used the dyes that
they found in their environment to paint
beautiful patterns on the outside of their
homes. .
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Originally houses were painted to give a cooling
or beneficial effect to a home by applying an
extra coat of earth pigment to a wall.
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Many of the colors and shapes chosen have
symbolic meaning.
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The geometric patters painted here are much like
large flowers.
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Here you see a woman painting her home. The
colors she has chosen are the same colors as her
clothing. They are the colors of the environment
around her.
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Mothers pass down their painting techniques and
designs to their daughters. If a house is well
painted, the woman of the house gets great
respect.
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Sometimes the patterns painted are very bold and
simple.
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Sometimes the patterns center and focus on a
particular architectural element. In this case,
the window is highlighted.
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In this case, the door is highlighted by the
pattern design.
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Here a man is framed in a window with a beautiful
painted pattern.
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Here is a sampling of how a variety of different
doors are highlighted with beautiful bold
patterns.
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Here is a sampling of a variety of windows that
are highlighted with bright and beautiful
repeated patterns.
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These children are playing a game with a mask.
In the background you can see someones home and
the beautiful blue window painting.
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More children play in front of their home. Do
you think they know how beautiful their home is?
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This is an interior room. There is a picture of
Nelson Mandela on the wall. Do you know why he
is a hero in South Africa?
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This home is painted in the colors of South Africa
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The ANC is the African National Congress. When
Apartheid was made illegal, Nelson Mandela was
elected president of the ANC. People all over
South Africa had great respect for him and their
fellow patriots. Soon many people were painting
their homes in the colors of the ANC. Still
others took up more brilliant colors to express
their joy.
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After Apartheid was abolished in Africa, great
leaders like Nelson Mandela held the country
together with the philosophy of Ubuntu. He
and a famous minister, Desmond Tutu, preached
forgiveness and reconciliation over and over
again to all of the people in South
Africa. Ubuntu is a traditional African
philosophy that offers us an understanding of
ourselves in relation with the world. According
to Ubuntu, there exists a common bond between us
all and it is through this bond, through our
interaction with our fellow human beings, that we
discover our own human qualities. Or as the
Zulus would say, Umuntu Ngumuntu Ngabantu,
which means that a person is a person through
other persons. We affirm our humanity when we
acknowledge that of others.
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The South African Nobel Laureate Archbishop
Desmond Tutu describes Ubuntu. It is the essence
of being human. It speaks of the fact that my
humanity is caught up and is inextricably bound
up in yours. I am human because I belong. It
speaks about wholeness, it speaks about
compassion. A person with Ubuntu is welcoming,
hospitable, warm and generous, willing to share.
Such people are open and available to others,
willing to be vulnerable, affirming of others, do
not feel threatened that others are able and
good, for they have a proper self-assurance that
comes from knowing that they belong to a greater
whole.
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People who practice Ubuntu know that they are
diminished when others are humiliated, diminished
when others are oppressed, diminished when others
are treated as if they were less than who they
are. The equality of Ubuntu gives people
resilience, enabling them to survive and emerge
still human despite all efforts to dehumanize
them. Since the downfall of Apartheid in South
Africa, Ubuntu is often mentioned in the
political context to bring about a stronger sense
of unity. Ubuntu is seen as one of the founding
principles of the new republic of South Africa
and is connected to the idea of an African
Renaissance.
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African Mud Cloth

• Lets think about Art
• If you were to make a drawing or a painting in
  the style of one of these artists what would you
  include?
• Would you think of several symbols from nature to
  repeat into a pattern design?
• Would you use colors that symbolized something or
  just made you feel happy?
• Would you paint on an unusual surface like the
  wall of a building or on some kind of cloth?
• Would you think about Ubuntu and the goodness of
  people?
• Think about one of the artists in this slide show
  and make either a wall or cloth design. The
  symbols you use should be from nature and should
  be repeated in a balanced pattern. If you dont
  have cloth, you can take a paper sack turned
  inside-out or a piece of drawing paper that is
  crumpled. You may use crayons and paint in place
  of mud and paint.

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The End
Many thanks to the Visual Arts Assessment
Committee Carole Odierno-Memorial High
School Carol Dvorak-Carver Middle School Fran
Kallsnick-Byrd Middle School Joe Sizemore-Nimitz
Middle School Linda Barnett-Wright Elementary
School Janet Gillis-Carnegie Elementary
School Janet Lefler-Key Elementary School Ann
Tomlins-Fulton