What did it mean to adorn one's home walls with paintings during the heyday of colonialism? Although lacking in appreciation, these quotes of Karl Weule show that he was one of several who noted a widespread pattern of house wall painting among communities in central East Africa during the colonial period. Wall painting was a feature that received little attention during its time and in subsequent scholarship. This article offers a preliminary analysis of wall painting found in parts of central East Africa during the heyday of colonialism between the 1900s-1960s. Home wall painting was far from “child-like” or “quaint,” as some colonial ethnographers would have it. Rather, it was an important popular arts tradition.1 My research collects and analyzes available period documentary and photographic depictions of house wall-art found in present day southern and central Tanzania, Malawi, and northern Mozambique. Precise readings of wall painting are undeniably difficult...
Painting in Turbulent Times: House Wall Art, Culture, and Commentary in Colonial East Africa Unavailable
Yaari Felber-Seligman (pronouns: they/them/theirs) is an assistant professor at City College of New York. A cultural historian, Felber-Seligman specializes in early African and comparative world history. They are presently revising a book manuscript that highlights how small-scale, inland East African societies shaped long-lasting regional trade prior to the 1700s. [email protected].
Yaari Felber-Seligman (pronouns: they/them/theirs) is an assistant professor at City College of New York. A cultural historian, Felber-Seligman specializes in early African and comparative world history. They are presently revising a book manuscript that highlights how small-scale, inland East African societies shaped long-lasting regional trade prior to the 1700s. [email protected].
Yaari Felber-Seligman; Painting in Turbulent Times: House Wall Art, Culture, and Commentary in Colonial East Africa. African Arts 2020; 53 (2): 54–65. doi: https://doi.org/10.1162/afar_a_00528
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