Image Databases
- Visual Resources Collection This link opens in a new windowThis resource contains over 1,200 images related to African art. "The WSU Visual Resources Collection houses over 100,000 images relevant to the study of art, architecture, history, literature, anthropology, science and more [...] gives users the ability to create and save presentations and slideshows for classroom use, embed images and presentations in Blackboard, and search images from the popular photo-sharing site Flickr." WSU Catalog.
Museum Websites for African Art
Many museums, with collections in African art, present portions of their collections online. Below are some museum sites with significant exhibits.
- Metropolitan Museum of Art: African Art: Heilbrunn Timeline of Art HistoryThis web site provides an excellent introduction to the history of African Art.
- Museums in the United States With Collections of African ArtThis resource is an index which provides links to museums with collections in African art.
Websites: African Art
There are many useful websites for researching African art and Art history. Below are few of the most useful for finding freely available electronic sources.
- University of Iowa - The School of Art and Art History Art and Life in Africa ProjectThis site provides links to various web resources in African art.
- Stanford University: Africa South of the Sahara, Selected Internet ResourcesThis site indexes resources in African studies which includes sources on topics such as art, the African Diaspora, education, foods, religion, literature, women, history, statistics, etc. Overall, this is an extraordinarily useful resource for research in African studies and art history
Maps
- Luna Commons: Stanford University - Maps of AfricaSearch Luna Commons for images of historic maps of Africa dating from the 16th through the 19th centuries
- Stanford University: Maps - Africa: South of the SaharaAs part of the Africa: South of the Sahara site hosted by Stanford University, this page maintains links to many free African map collections
Other Library Guides
- Africana StudiesA broad array of resources used by WSU's Africana Studies Department.
- HistoryThis resource guide is used by WSU's History Department faculty and students.
- The African City: Art and the Politics of PlaceDr. Prita Meier's Library Guide at Johns Hopkins University. WSU has some of the resources but not all.
For licensed resources that WSU owns, you will need to access them through WSU's library catalog. - The Sacred Arts of AfricaDr. Prita Meier's Library Guide at Johns Hopkins University. WSU has some of the resources listed but not all.
For licensed resources that WSU owns, you will need to access them through WSU's library catalog.
African Art: Featured Online Encyclopedia
Full Text Article Databases
Listed below are databases which contain full-text, scholarly and non-scholarly articles in both African studies and African art history. For more information on these databases go to the "Full-Text Databases" tab here in the Art and Art History guide.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowProvides image and full-text online access to back issues of selected scholarly journals.
- Project Muse This link opens in a new windowA searchable database that provides access to the full text of journals published by Johns Hopkins University Press and other university presses.
Journals: African Art - Best Bets
Below are the most popular journals which publish scholarly articles on African arts, culture, and African art history.
- African Archaeological Review"Publishes articles on all aspects of the archaeology of Africa and neighboring islands, including new field data and discussions of interregional processes, cultural transitions, and Africa's place in world archaeology." --- ULRICHSWEB: Global Serials Directory
- African Arts"Devoted to the study and discussion of traditional, contemporary, and popular African arts and expressive cultures." --- ULRICHSWEB: Global Serials Directory
- Oriens"Studies in the culture of Asia and North Africa from antiquity to the present focusing on language, literature, religion and art." --- ULRICHSWEB: Global Serials Directory
- Philosophia Africana: Analysis of Philosophy and Issues in Africa and the Black diaspora."Aims to promote scholarly research and teaching of philosophy from the point of view of African and African Diaspora experience and traditions." --- ULRICHSWEB: Global Serials Directory
Journals: African Studies and Related
Below are journals which publish regularly on topics related to African culture, art, politics, society, economics, and history.
- Africa"Interdisciplinary in approach, topics presented are in social sciences, history, the environment, and life sciences with strong emphasis on issues of development, links between local and national levels of society, and cultural studies" --- Margaret Power, Magazines for Libraries
- African Affairs"[T]his highly ranked scholarly journal has a long tradition; over 100 years of covering Africa from a broad range of social science and cultural perspectives." --- Margaret Power, Magazines for Libraries
- African Studies Review"A multidisciplinary journal published by the African Studies Association, ASR aims to encourage scholarly debates across disciplines." --- Margaret Power, Magazines for Libraries
- Journal of African Cultural Studies"Publishes work on African linguistics and cultural studies, including art and music, and African literature in both African and western languages." --- ULRICHSWEB: Global Serials Directory
- Journal of African HistoryThis journal is peer-reviewed and "[c]ontains articles and book reviews ranging widely over the African past, from the late Stone Age to the 1970s." --- ULRICHSWEB: Global Serials Directory
- Journal of Modern African Studies"Covers the politics, economics and related aspects of contemporary Africa." --- ULRICHSWEB: Global Serials Directory
- The International Journal of African Historical StudiesThis journal is not peer reviewed but "covers all aspects of African history, from the stone age to the present." --- ULRICHSWEB: Global Serials Directory
- Art Journal"Provides a ideas and opinions that focuses on critical and aesthetic issues in the visual arts of our times." --- ULRICHSWEB: Global Serials Directory
- Public Culture"Studies political, economic, and social aspects of cultural commodity exchange in the postmodern world." --- ULRICHSWEB: Global Serials Directory
- Cultural Anthropology"Examines the relationship between anthropology and social and cultural history, hermeneutics, phenomenology and all fields of cultural studies. Includes literary criticism and theory." --- ULRICHSWEB: Global Serials Directory
- Research in African literatures"Covers the research on oral and written literatures of Africa." --- ULRICHSWEB: Global Serials Directory
Search for Articles, Books, & More
Book Searching Tips
To search for a KEYWORD phrase, be sure to enclose it in double quotes i.e.,
"African Art"
Reference Works: African Art
African Art: An Introduction by Call Number: N 7380 .W5 1993ISBN: 0500202672Publication Date: 1993Location: Purdy-Kresge Library
Here is a list of helpful resources for finding background information:
African Art in Cultural Perspective: An Introduction by Call Number: NB 1080 .B37 1973ISBN: 0393093751Publication Date: 1973Location: Undergraduate Library and Purdy-Kresge Library
African Studies Companion: A Resource Guide & Directory by Call Number: DT 19.8 .Z45 1997Publication Date: 1997Location: Purdy-Kresge Library
New currents, ancient rivers : contemporary African artists in a generation of change by Call Number: N 7391.65 .K46 1992ISBN: 1560980370Publication Date: 1992Location: Purdy-Kresge Library Oversize
The Continuum encyclopedia of native art : worldview, symbolism, and culture in Africa, Oceania, and native North AmericaCall Number: E 98 .A7 W49 2000ISBN: 0826411568Publication Date: 2000Location: Undergraduate Library
A history of art in Africa by Call Number: N 7380 .H54 2008ISBN: 0136128726Publication Date: 2008Location: Purdy-Kresge Oversize
Encyclopedia of African Religion by Call Number: Electronic BookISBN: 9781412936361Publication Date: 2008-11-26"As the first comprehensive work to assemble ideas, concepts, discourses, and extensive essays in this vital area, the Encyclopedia of African Religion explores such topics as deities and divinities, the nature of humanity, the end of life, the conquest of fear, and the quest for attainment of harmony with nature and other humans. Editors Molefi Kete Asante and Ama Mazama include nearly 500 entries that seek to rediscover the original beauty and majesty of African religion..."
Bibliographies
Bibliographies are useful for finding resources which are central to researching a specific subject. Below are a few of the bibliographies in African Art available here at Wayne State University
- African Art : A Bibliographic Guide / Janet L. StanleyLocation: Purdy-Kresge Library
Call Number: Z 5961 .A35 S7 1985 - An Annotated Bibliography of The Visual Arts Of East Africa / Eugene C. BurtLocation: Purdy-Kresge Library
Call Number: Z5961.A38 B87 - The Arts of Central Africa : An Annotated Bibliography / Daniel P. BiebuyckLocation: Purdy-Kresge Library
Call Number: Z5961.Z28 B53 1987