Deck 16: Arts of Africa

Question 1

The Bwa people honor spirits through abstractions of flying creatures and animals associated with __________.

A)fire
B)the air
C)water
D)the earth

Answer 1

C

Question 2

How is the Great Mosque of Djenné different from the Great Mosque of Kairouan?

A)Its exterior is replastered annually by the community.
B)Its interior includes a large hemispherical dome.
C)It was constructed using coursed masonry.
D)Its hypostyle hall features horseshoe arches.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The Great Enclosure at Great Zimbabwe is known for its __________.

A)churches carved from volcanic tuff
B)adobe brick mosque with projecting torons
C)mosque with a horseshoe arched arcade
D)concentric walls enclosing two stone towers

Answer 3

D

Question 4

"Game Pass" Shelter from the Drakensberg cliffs illustrates the ancestral traditions of the __________.

A)San peoples
B)Yoruba
C)Bwa people
D)Asante empire

Question 5

Which of the following sites was an important commercial center for the East African gold trade?

A)Lalibela
B)Djenné
C)Great Zimbabwe
D)Benin City

Question 6

Why is kente cloth woven so that the geometric patterns do not exactly line up with each other?

A)to symbolize the oni
B)to create a dazzling effect
C)to honor the spirits
D)to convey a unified world

Question 7

How are kente cloth from the Asante Empire and the woven and cut-pile textiles from the kingdom of the Kongo similar?

A)They were both worn by royalty.
B)They are both woven of raffia fiber.
C)They were used in masquerade ceremonies.
D)They were confiscated by French colonizers.

Question 8

Asante weavers are traditionally __________.

A)women
B)men
C)children
D)royalty

Question 9

In the porch sculptures for the Palace of Ikere,why did Olowe of Ise depict the king smaller than the figures around him?

A)to convey the idea that kingship requires the guidance of others
B)to represent the king as a descendent of prosperous Yoruba rulers
C)to associate the king with the queen's female ancestors
D)to communicate his authority to the members of his empire

Question 10

The intermediary between the Yoruba peoples and the spiritual realms of their gods,ancestors,and demons was called the __________.

A)byeri
B)nkisi nkondi
C)oba
D)oni

Question 11

Unlike European art,African art from the Renaissance through the nineteenth century sought to __________.

A)emulate nature
B)idealize the world around them
C)convey intangible ideas
D)express religious beliefs

Question 12

The parallel lines on Crowned Head of a Yoruba Ruler from Ife demonstrate the practice of __________.

A)tattooing
B)ceremonial paint
C)wearing ritual masks
D)scarification

Question 13

The Great Mosque of Kairouan features __________.

A)a hypostyle plan
B)a hemispherical dome
C)projecting torons
D)engaged buttresses

Question 14

The oldest surviving mosque on the African continent is at __________.

A)Djenné
B)Kairouan
C)Lalibela
D)Great Zimbabwe

Question 15

Which of the following statements best describes the function of Crowned Head of a Yoruba Ruler from Ife?

A)a naturalistic portrait of a particular king
B)an idealized image of the office of the king
C)a ritual object that mediated civil disputes
D)an abstracted portrait of a royal ancestor

Question 16

Biete Ghiorgis (Church of St.George)recalls the style of Byzantine churches in its __________.

A)arcaded porticos
B)hypostyle hall
C)stone towers
D)square cross design

Question 17

The Great Mosque of Djenné was constructed from __________.

A)stone
B)brick
C)adobe
D)wood

Question 18

Which of the following objects was produced using the lost-wax casting technique?

A)Nkisi Nkondi
B)Lidded Saltcellar
C)Crowned Head of a Yoruba Ruler from Ife
D)Eyema-O-Byeri

Question 19

The Yoruba could be the earliest settlers in present-day __________.

A)Ghana
B)Zimbabwe
C)Tunisia
D)Nigeria

Question 20

Which of the following is a critical component of the public masquerade ceremonies of the Bwa people?

A)plank masks
B)kente cloth
C)the nkisi nkondi
D)carved byeri

Question 21

For the Fang,a carved wooden guardian figure is called __________.

A)an oni
B)a byeri
C)a nkisi
D)an oba

Question 22

The medical ingredients added to a nkisi nkondi are known as __________.

A)kente
B)bilongo
C)oni
D)torons

Question 23

Zanele Muholi's photographs,such as Thobe and Phila I,honor __________.

A)same-sex relationships
B)Africa's cosmopolitanism
C)Ghanian traditions
D)a unified world

Question 24

Who infused the nkisi nkondi with power?

A)the diviner
B)the king
C)the oni
D)the oba

Question 25

Anatsui's Versatility references the historical meaning associated with __________.

A)wax-print fabric
B)kente cloth
C)nkisi nkondi
D)Bwa plank masks

Question 26

Which of the following artworks uses wax-print fabrics to reveal the flow of history between Europe and Africa?

A)El Anatsui's Versatility
B)Yinka Shonibare MBE's Scramble for Africa
C)Seydou Keïta's Untitled (Family Portrait)
D)Aimé Mpane's Congo: Shadow of a Shadow

Question 27

How did colonialism impact Benin City?

A)The French confiscated or destroyed the byeri.
B)The Portuguese exploited the ivory carvers of Sierra Leone.
C)The Belgians dismantled the nkisi nkondi in the Kongo.
D)The British destroyed it and took the artifacts to England.

Question 28

In the Palace Plaque from Benin City,the warrior chief is identified by his __________.

A)diminutive scale
B)bilongo
C)scarification
D)eben sword

Question 29

How is the Lidded Saltcellar typical of objects commissioned during colonialism?

A)It is carved from ivory.
B)It was made by an artist from Ghana.
C)It was designed by an oba.
D)It represented European power.

Question 30

Anatsui's Versatility addresses environmental concerns by incorporating __________.

A)kente cloth
B)wax-print fabric
C)found objects
D)raffia fibers

Question 31

In Benin City,the king was called the __________.

A)oni
B)bilongo
C)oba
D)byeri

Question 32

What was the function of the nkisi nkondi?

A)It protected the owner by honoring the oni.
B)It was used in masquerade ceremonies.
C)It identified the owner as a king or queen.
D)It acted as an impartial arbiter of justice.

Question 33

In Congo: Shadow of a Shadow,Aimé Mpane assembles planks of wood on the ground in the shape of a man,woman,and child in order to ___________.

A)reference the brutality of colonialism
B)celebrate the liberation of the Congo
C)problematize European ethnography
D)challenge how we dispose of our waste

Question 34

Which of the following African cultures created the Eyema-o-Byeri?

A)the Bwa
B)the Yoruba
C)the Fang
D)the San peoples

Question 35

The subjects of Seydou Keïta's portraits can be characterized as __________.

A)exotic others
B)gay,bisexual,transgender,or queer
C)European colonizers
D)cosmopolitan