A broad survey of African art created within the context of death is a formidable task. Two books emerged in 2019 that undertook this mission, ironic in light of the coronavirus epidemic to come in 2020. This review will concentrate on the book written by John Mack, yet I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge Ikwuemesi (2019), which explored the same topics but also included material from the diaspora. Unfortunately, I was unable to procure the latter text through interlibrary loan for comparison in the summer of 2020 when I wrote this review.
Mack's book has eight chapters, beginning with an introduction that summarizes some of his main theories. The author notes at the outset that rituals surrounding death in Africa are mostly well covered, yet states a theoretical overview is lacking. Drawing from anthropological, art historical, archaeological and literary sources, Mack manages an impressive overview of...