Many African sculptures were historically made of wood and other natural materials that have not survived from earlier than a few centuries ago, although rare older pottery and metal figures can be found in some areas.

Ancestor worship inspires the creation of ritualistic objects, such as carved statues, ceremonial masks, and sacred relics, used to honor and communicate with these spiritual entities.

For example, Islamic geometric patterns have influenced West African textiles, while Christian symbolism appears in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church’s illuminated manuscripts and murals.

[22][23] Art in traditional African religions remains a living expression of cultural heritage, spiritual beliefs, and societal values, continuing to evolve alongside contemporary influences.

The Nubian Kingdom of Kush in modern Sudan was in close and often hostile contact with Egypt and produced monumental sculptures mostly derivative of styles that did not lead to the north.

Though these works of craftsmanship followed their own aesthetic principles, they were regarded as tools of sorcery by European travel writers and reduced to a category of "fetish," which was understood to be outside the realm of art.

Colonization during the nineteenth century set up a Western understanding hinged on the belief that African art lacked technical ability due to its low socioeconomic status.

From the earliest expressions in enslaved communities to contemporary works celebrated in galleries and museums, Black American art continues to shape and redefine the cultural narrative of America.

Visual artists like Aaron Douglas, Jacob Lawrence, and Augusta Savage produced works that captured the vibrancy of Black life and the struggles for equality.

Notable modern artists include El Anatsui, Marlene Dumas, William Kentridge, Karel Nel, Kendell Geers, Yinka Shonibare, Zerihun Yetmgeta, Odhiambo Siangla, Elias Jengo, Olu Oguibe, Lubaina Himid, Bili Bidjocka and Henry Tayali.

Ironically, this emphasis on abstraction is seen by Westerners as an imitation of European and American Cubist and totemic artists, such as Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani and Henri Matisse, who, in the early twentieth century, were heavily influenced by traditional African art.

Several vigorous popular traditions assimilate Western influences into African styles such as the elaborate fantasy coffins of Southern Ghana, made in a variety of different shapes which represent the occupations or interests of the deceased or elevate their status.

[35] Ghanaian hand-painted movie posters on canvas and flour sacks from the 1980s and 1990s have been exhibited at museums around the world and sparked viral social media attention due to their highly imaginative and stylized depictions of Western films.

The terracotta figures are hollow, coil-built, nearly life-sized human heads and bodies that are depicted with highly stylized features, abundant jewelry, and varied postures.

As a result of natural erosion and deposition, Nok terracottas were scattered at various depths throughout the Sahel grasslands, causing difficulty in the dating and classification of the mysterious artifacts.

[47] Because of the similarities between the two sites, archaeologist Graham Connah believes that "Nok artwork represents a style that was adopted by a range of iron-using farming societies of varying cultures, rather than being the diagnostic feature of a particular human group as has often been claimed."

Found across diverse African regions, statuettes vary widely in style, material, and function but share a common thread of storytelling and cultural significance.

These statues represent a highly stylized animal or human figure, and are made of wood which is repeatedly covered in thick layers of earth impregnated with sacrificial materials such as millet, chicken or goat blood, kola nuts and alcoholic drinks.

The seated female figures, their hands on their abdomen, are linked to the fertility cult, incarnating the first ancestor who died in childbirth, and are the object of offerings of food and sacrifices by women who are expecting a child.

The Dogon style has evolved into a kind of cubism: ovoid head, squared shoulders, tapered extremities, pointed breasts, forearms, and thighs on a parallel plane, hairdos stylized by three or four incised lines.

In terms of artistic styles, the confusion stems from the fact that the Bwa, "gurunsi'" and Mossi make masks that are covered with red white and black geometric graphic patterns.

East Africa, a region encompassing countries like Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Ethiopia, boasts a rich and diverse artistic heritage.

From traditional crafts to contemporary expressions, East African art reflects the region’s vibrant history, cultural complexity, and evolving identity in the global arena.

[65] However, the 7th-century AD followers of the Islamic prophet Muhammad who fled to Axum in temporary exile mentioned that the original Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion was decorated with paintings.

[66] Ethiopian painting, on walls, in books, and in icons,[67] is highly distinctive, though the style and iconography are closely related to the simplified Coptic version of Late Antique and Byzantine Christian art.

A great deal of the art was created for the courts of chiefs and kings and was profusely decorated, incorporating cowrie shells and animal skins (especially leopard) as symbols of wealth, prestige and power.

While color has almost always had a role in drawing emotions in art, the Ndebele were one of the first Southern African tribes to utilise a wide array of colours to convey specific meanings as part of their very lives.

Sites like Tassili n'Ajjer in Algeria feature thousands of petroglyphs and paintings, depicting animals, hunting scenes, and daily life from as far back as 10,000 BCE.

The people of Nubia, living in southern Egypt and the northern region of Sudan, developed historical art styles similar to that of their Egyptian neighbors to the north.

[77][78] After these historical periods, the inhabitants of Sudan created artworks in different styles, both in indigenous African ways or influenced by Byzantine Christian, Islamic and modern art traditions.