African and African American Artists

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African Artist Collections and Museums

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• Africa: One Continent. Many Worlds [Archive] - Click topics in left frame - from Natural History Museum - Los Angeles. Curriculum materials, lesson plans.

• Africa Direct - This site gives background information on each artifact.

• African Art: African Voices - (Archive) Philadelphia Museum of Art Online interactive exhibition surveys the artistic achievements of just a few of the many cultures of sub-Saharan Africa

• African American Artists - Chronological listing from Artcyclopedia.



• African-American Artists - (Archive) The collection from the National Gallery of Art.

• African Art: Aesthetics and Meaning (an electronic exhibition catalog) Excellent site from the University of Virginia. African art exhibit with explanations of each item.

• Art and Life in Africa Project - This page is from the The University of Iowa's School of Art and Art History. The archive of this page is better and Includes information on the Yourba Twins and Ere Ibeji. Page created by professor Christopher Roy.

 

• African Art - Universes in Universe - (Archive) The visual arts of particular countries in Universes in Universe.

• African Art Museum - Online Collection collection of African tribal art featuring over 1,200 artifacts from100 ethnic groups. Items on display include wooden and bronze statues, masks, religious, ritual and domestic objects, furniture and weapons. Learn about art, culture and history of each ethnic group. Start your museum tour by clicking on the tribe names.

• African Focus - Search by collection, subject or country - See photographs of artisans at work. I did a search for weaving and all of the weaving photographs came up. Listen to music of many cultures. Very informative site- about the countries and the people of Africa. From University Wisconsin-Madison.

• African Studies - (Archive) University of Pennsylvania -- comprehensive site of Online resources for K-12 (Archive) through graduate level--by Ali Ali-Dinar, Ph.D. See image archives (Archive).

• African Art: Information - (Archive) Harrison B. Wilson African Gallery, Norfolk State University.

• Africa Remix: Contemporary Art of a Continent - large exhibition on contemporary art from Africa. Photo report from Universes in Universe - 73 artists, exhibition views, portraits as well as the list of artists.

• African Art Now: Masterpieces from the Jean Pigozzi Collection - profiles 28 artists from 15 African countries, all of whom came of age in Africa and maintain close ties to their native countries. National Museum of African Art.

• African Art - (Archive) This is the Indianapolis Museum of Art collection.

• African Vision: The Walt Disney-Tishman African Art Collection - View Timeline (Follow the Art). See sections on masks, figurative work and images of power & prestige. You can zoom in on images and see multiple views of some objects.

• African Voices Listen to Africans talk about their lives.

• Afrika - Art and Culture Art and Culture - Museum of Ethnology in Berlin. Browse using the pictorial menu at top. Masks - images of kinds - various African art objects - connections to Europe - magic and medicine.

• African Pottery forming technique - from Mali [Archive] - University of Iowa. See the slide show [Archive].

• Art from Africa: Long Steps Never Broke a Back - (Archive) A PDF document from Seattle Museum of Art. The document includes art lessons, African Art, and activities.

• Akan and Adinkra Art Gallery - Centre For Indigenous Knowledge Systems

• Animals in African Art - (Archive) By Atalaya Jones (student), University of Virginia. Find out more! (Archive)

• Arte Africana - With African tribal art. The site is in Italian.

• Art and Oracle African Art and Rituals of Divination - Book from the exhibit from the Metropolitan Museum of Art - Presents African artifacts created to communicate with ancestors, spirits, and gods in order to obtain insight into human quandaries.
  
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• Bead work of the Zulu - Meaning of colors - This exclusively feminine craft has an inituitive fluency found only in inspired forms of poetry and visual art.

• Beaded Splendor - Migration of Beading and Beadwork in Africa

• British Museum: World Cultures - (Archive) You can also see their African exhibit in what they call Room 25.
  
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• California African American Museum - (CAAM) with exhibits, news, and permanent collection for various artists.

• A Concrete Vision: Oshogbo Art from the 1960's - Work from Nigeria. Twins Seven Seven and Olantunde are both included.

• Contemporary Art - African Craft.com View Artists, Craftspeople, online exhibits, educational materials and articles - also links to artists sites.

This image is from the Ceramic Draped African Mask lesson on IAD. You can find it here.

• Contemporary African Art Gallery New York. The gallery has on exhibit over 75 works of fine art, representing over 25 artists from East, West and Southern Africa. (work was suitable for student viewing when link was added).

• Contemporary and Traditional art and crafts - From Indigo Art Gallery. See the work of Twins Seven Seven and aluminum relief work of Asiru Olantunde and other contemporary artists.

• Craftspeople of Africa today - A page of about 50 African artists.

• Cutting to the Essence, Shaping for the Fire - (Archive) a Yoruba and Akan art exhibit.

• Cycles: African Life Through Art - (Archive) from Indianapolis Museum of Art. A highly visually appealing and thought provoking site which provides a rich user experience through interactivity, text and images. A "must see".
  
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• Detroit Institute of the Arts: African Art Exhibit - (Archive) be introduced to the ancient kingdom, images of animals in art and more.
  
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• Eloquent Elegance: Beadwork in the Zulu Tradition [Archive] - By Stanley Schoeman

• Encounters with the Contemporary - National Museum of African Art
  
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• Folk Art and Craft Exchange Haitian Art
  
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• Genesis: Ideas of Origin in African Sculpture - Exhibit from from Metropolitan Museum of Art - seeks to shed light on the act of human creation as a broad and recurrent theme of African art.

• Guruve: Unique Contemporary African Art - from UK. This is a commercial site, but does have some valuable information for educators. Gallery specializes in contemporary stone sculpture from Zimbabwe, but we also promote artists from elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa who work in a wide range of media from oils to scrap metal.
  
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• Hamill Gallery - Alphabetical listing of images by culture
  (click on left frame to see what images are available). Lots of exhibits on line.

• Hats Off! Salute to African Headwear and Exhibit of hats from various African cultures (Archive)
  
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Inside African Art - A site with over 96 African artists.

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• The Legend of the Sky Kingdom From Zimbabwe, Africa. Hit the garage sales! Flea Markets! Makers of "The Legend of the Sky Kingdom" used scrap parts and "junk" from anywhere they could find to create some lovable characters. (site no longer online - read all about it). See article from BBC News
  
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• Masks of Africa - University of Virginia - (Archive) The African masks in this exhibtion are dramatic portraits of spirit beings, departed ancestors, and invisible powers of social control. Each mask was made according to a traditional style, and each was worn by a trained performer.

• Masks Online - Museum for African Art, New York - website brings African masks to life with exhibition information, activities for kids and curricula lessons for teachers.

• Mead Museum of Art - Amherst University. See selected works from the Daniels Collection online.

• Musee of Paris Magical faces of Africa (masks) - Paris Museum

• Museum of African Diaspora - An international museum, based in San Francisco.

• Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts [Archive] - in Brooklyn, New York.
  
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• National Museum of African Art - This Smithsonian museum explores the relationships between African art and the communicative powers of language, graphic systems and the written word. Online Exhibits of African Art - Current Exhibits

• North Carolina Museum of Art - African Art Collection
  
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• Paul R. Jones Collection - University of Delaware. See works in the collection -- noted African American artists including Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence, Selma Burke and others.

• Playful Performers - Why Wear a Mask? - National Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C. - online exhibit to bring to young people an enhanced understanding of the many roles that masks play in various African societies and cultures. Must see!

• Presence of Spirits - National Museum of African Art

  • Kent cloth of the Asante -- Wrapped in Pride

  • Baule Art - Cote d'Ivoire - Smithsonian Exhibit

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• Ritual Messengers Canada Museum of Civilizations. Interactive-- Try your knowledge with the Mystery Questions! It is fun! See also the peoples of Africa.
  
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• Sudan Artists Gallery - (Archive) Paintings, pastels, sculpture, ceramics, mixed media and textiles. All work suitable for student viewing when link was added.

• Search the collection. Look by object, use materials, theme.

• South of the Sahara Stanford University links to Art of Africa. See more resources - Africa South of the Sahara

• Sub-Saharan African Art: Carlos Museum Emory University. Small thumbnails link to larger images with explanations.
  
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• Textures: Words and Symbol in Contemporary African Art

• Tinga tinga Paintings from Zanzabar - (Archive) Tinga Tinga is a style of art that was the brainchild of Edward Said Tinga Tinga. Brief history of Zanzabar (Archive)

• Traditional Pyrography of Mali by Kathleen Menendez
  
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• University of Virginia African Art in the Bayly Collection - (Archive) listings by ethnic groups)
  
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• Where Gods and Mortals Meet: Continuity and Renewal in Urhobo Art - comprehensive presentation of the arts of the Urhobo peoples of Nigeria.
  
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• Yoruba Art and Culture - - [Archive] Excellent review for you and your students. From Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology. (Teaching Kit with artifacts and music available)

 

African Artists

 

Artists, Last Name First

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• Augie N'Kele - African Heritage - (Archive) Aluminum and wire sculpture. Augie N'Kele was born in Kisangani, Congo - now living in Fort Worth, Texas.
  
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• Brunhoso, Antognoni Angolan artist living in Holland. Mixed media, acrylic and oil painting.
  
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• Domingos, Sebastiao - (Archive) a wood carving artist from South Africa. Figurative work, animals and works that tell a story.

• Dixon, Terry - (born 1969) Washington DC Artist. Abstract Expressionism with African inspired symbolism. Paintings - mixed media.
  
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• Sokari David Camp - Nigerian artist, based in UK

• Seydou Keita - Photographer from Bamako, Mali (1949 to 1970).
  
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• Ousame Sow - Senegalese artist. Figurative sculpture.

African American Artists

 

Artists, Last Name First

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• Adams, Alonzo, an African American artist from the U.S. (Some images for mature students).
  
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• Barksdale, Corey - A prolific Atlanta artist, his fine art subject matter ranges from human figures to non-objective abstracts.

• Bearden, Romare - An African American born in the Bronx.
  
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• Geter, Tyrone, an artist at the University of Akron.
  
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• Johnson, William - An African American Harlem Renaissance painter.
  
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• Marshall, Kanika - African-American artist from California. African inspired masks, figurines, breast cancer survivor jewelry, pendants, pins, and more. Home decorator items hand-sculpted from clay and adorned with African fabric, leather, and beadwork.
  
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• Lawrence, Jacob - A storyteller and artist who fought for freedom and justice.

• Lloyd, Robert J., - (Archive) professor of art at Eastern University. See his images and commentaries.

• Loveless, James - See the "art of love" - Portraits by the Loveless family. Saint Louis, Missouri.
  
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• Martin, Eugene J. (b. 1938, Washington D.C. - d. 2005, Lafayette LA) Realistic drawings to abstract paintings. Larger size images can be found on Artnet.

• Mayfield, George C. [Archive] - African American artist. Still life, portraits and more. Paintings and 3-d work.

• Morrison, Frank - Notable collections of Morrison’s art are owned by Queen Latifah, "Earth Wind and Fire" Ralph Johnson, Bishop T.D. Jakes, Pittsburgh Steelers Casey Hampton, Verizon, Russel Simmons "Phat Farm", WBGO, NY Jets D' Brickashaw Ferguson, etc.
  
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• N'Kele, Augie Kuyowa - (Archive) an artist from the Democratic Republic of Congo. He now resides in the U.S.
  
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• Osman, Mohamed Buwe, a native of Merka Somalia. Paintings are reflective memories of rich, diverse and adventurous experiences of life. Physician who is an artist.
  
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• Pippin, Horace - In spite of a war injury, this African American painted and created other art.

• Pleasant, William (African American, 1928-1997). Figurative paintings and sculpture - Gestural in feeling. Email Pleasant for painting images you need for PowerPoint.
  
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• Saar, Betye - An African-American assemblage artist.

• Sithole, Lucas (1931-1994) - site in memory of one of South Africa's most important sculptors showing hundreds of works from various collections around the world.
  
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• Traore, Souda - An artist originally from Switzerland and Mali. She specializes in sand paintings and sand sculptures. Her site is called Souda's Worlds.

African Architecture

• Art and Architecture - (Archive) Links page - University of Pennsylvania

• Traditional architecture of Africa

• Akan Architecture - Images on Flickr.

• Dogon - Niger - Lobi - Excellent photographs of the people and region.

African Folk Tales

• Madafo: African American Groit - Make storytelling a part of your units on African art. Purchase the CD to hear them all! Don't miss the "Greedy Hyena."

• African American Folk Tales [Archive] - From AFRO-American Almanac.

• South African Folk Tales

• African Folk Tales - from Can Teach

• Lesson Plan: Activities for African folk Tales from Teacher Vision. Background information (Archive)

• African Myths and What They Teach - Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute Lesson.

African Educational Resources

• African Odyssey Interactive Project [Archive] - Arts and Education Resources from ArtsEdge-Kennedy Center. Links for art , music, theater and dances of Africa. Text, still and moving images, and audio files provided by artists and educators who have visited and taught about the rich and diverse cultures across the African continent. See their page called, Reliving History Through Slave Narratives.

• Art and Life of Africa - (Archive) University of Iowa Interactive project. Excellent site with information on art, countries and people of Africa. Many images from the Stanley Collection. This site has so much information- you could spend hours and not see it all! See what is new! Lots of resources for West Africa - videos - music - photos - more! Lesson Plans - Unit plans for all grade levels - Interdisciplinary...

• Wonders of the African World - PBS site. Henry Gates takes us through a tour of Africa. See ancient ruins of Zimbabwe and Timbuktu.

• PBS - AFRICA- Explore the Regions - Explore and choose one of the regions, click on people, and then go to folklore. See Africa for Kids (Archive) - Exploring African Culture - high school lesson plan. Art and Music lesson plan (elementary and middle school).

• Teacher's Guide to African Art [Archive] - From Fine Art Museum of San Francisco. See their main page.

• African Art Lesson Plans - Utah Museum of fine Arts. Lots of other lessons there too.

• African Art Lessons (Archive ) - Behind the Glass - (Archive) Cincinnati Museum of Art. Lessons keyed to Ohio Standards.

• Africa links - Universes-in-Universe - (Archive) Excellent resources - African Art history - artists - museums and more. All updated.

• Discover Africa - (Archive) Lesson plans - Interdisciplinary. See also Natural History for connections to science. All of these may also be available from African One Continent, Many Worlds (Archive)

• Exploring Africa - Africa in the Classroom. Lesson Plans and activities for students. Lesson plan guides for teachers are not all online (student pages are). From Michigan State University.

• Rock Art of Africa - excellent site from Bradshaw Foundation.

• Culture of Ghana- Navrongo and Lawra - (Archive) Architecture, drumming, and dancing, clothing and more. Virtual Navrongo

• Art on Air: Mask Lesson Plan - (Archive) Celebrating Ancestors Using a "hands-on" activity, students will understand that African masks were and are more than aesthetic artifacts. See the art guide .

• History of Math in Africa [Archive]

• K-12 Electronic Guide for African Resources on the Internet - University of Pennsylvania -- K-12 Information on Africa (on line)

• Africa Web Links: an Annotated Resource List - University of Pennsylvania - Multi-Media Archives

• Misconceptions about Africa and African art - University of Pennsylvania

• Africa in the Classroom - Information on Economy, People, art, history, and more. Menu for K-12 Studies in African Science

• Africa Hotlist - (Archive) Franklin Institute online list for African culture, information on countries and the arts.

• African Dance - (Archive) With sound clips from the University of California Berkeley.

• Barakat Gallery - Quality images from many different regions.

• Body Art: A Means of Self Expression - (Archive) from African Conservancy Gallery

• Body Art: Marks of Identity [Archive] - From various world cultures

• Comprehensive list of links to art of Africa

• Masks - Faces of Africa [Archive]

• Africana Internet Resources at Cornell University (Archive)

Mali, Africa

• African Art - (Archive) from Virginia Fine Arts Museum. Geography and history overview, timeline, classroom activities and images from the collection. Also see their Egyptian art (Archive) and resources for Ancient Nigeria (Archive).

• Mali: Ancient Crossroads of Africa - (Archive) Overview of the history and culture of Mali. Links to instructional resources for the classroom. Lesson plans included. Developed by Virginia Department of Education Prince William County Schools.

• The Art and Culture of Mali - See Mali through the eyes of art teacher Melissa Enderle. Lots of photographs of the people! Melissa's Niger River trip and Timbuktu - Melissa's Mali website - Photos of Mali and Tunisia (Also here and here).

• Sundiata Mansa Musa on the Web - (Archive) lists more than 150 resources about Sundiata and Mansa Musa, kings of the Empire of Mali in the 13th and 14th centuries. Compiled by Tim Spalding

• Contemporary Art - (Archive) Art and Life of Africa - University of Iowa

• Magical Mali - (Archive) Fun, interactive site. Find out about the weather - hear the sounds of Mali - take a quiz and more.

• Virtual Trip to Mali - (Archive) Journey with CARE to Mali. Learn about the people and the legendary cities. Explore their fabulous culture!

• Archeology in Mali - (Archive) - About Mali (Archive) from Rice University

• History of Mali - (Archive) A page on Playata

• Exploring Mali - Mali Adventure

African Mancala

• See some Mancala game boards from Africa! [Archive]

African Music and Dance

• Visit Togo, Ghana, Burkina Faso and Mali. Listen to the sound of the djembe drum. Djeli (known as "griots" in French) are praise-singers (Archive) who have a special place in West African society.

• Audible Artworks - Selected African Musical Instruments -from National Museum of African Art.

• Cora Connection - Your link to the rich music of West Africa. See pictures of the African instruments and hear the beautiful sounds.

• Africa: A Joyous Music Celebration - See the CD's available from Putumayo World Music. Select a title then click on name of song.

• African Music [Archive] - Read all about African rhythms in part I and part II Hear traditional and modern music--voices and instruments. See helpful diagrams by clicking on underlined words.

• African Music - Echos of Africa: [Archive] There aren't many genres which don't carry an element of African 'DNA' somewhere in their make up. The music we love has its foundation in a blend of African and European sounds. We look at the influence of the continent known as the "birthplace of humanity".

• Dundun - African Drums - Turn up the sound and enjoy. Various drums from West Africa.

• Making Clay Udu drums - Frank Giorgini Brief history

• Udu Ghatam drum (Archive) by Pete Lockett & Frank Giorgini.

• Burnt Earth: Udu Drums - Listen to the sounds See more ceramic musical instruments.

• Lesson Plan - Drums: Catch the Beat (Archive) from Children's Museum of Indianapolis [Archive]. Lesson focuses on African drums/various countries - for grades K - 2 (Archive) and for grades 3- 5. [All archived]

African Proverbs

• CogWeb's African Proverbs

• Afritorial's African Proverbs

• WikiQuote's African Proverbs (Archive)

African Textiles

• Africancrafts.com - See work of many textile artists and designers. Educational materials See craftspeople, artists and more. Click to Exhibits to see Traditional African Textiles from the Robbins Center For Cross Cultural Communication. View Creative Recycling

• Adinkra Symbols Index - (Archive) many with photographs of symbol. Includes meaning. West African Wisdom - Adinkra Symbols (Archive)

• West African Wisdom: Adinkra Symbols and Meaning - (Archive) originating in West Africa (Ghana), the adinkra symbols reflect a system of values that are universal: family, integrity, tolerance, harmony, determination, protection among many others.

• The Adinkra Story - (Archive) On the Line- Millennium project. Learn about history and symbols on Ghanaian Adinkra cloth, and do your own printing activity. (Archive)

• Free African Stencil Collection - (Archive) Including Adinkra stencils with meanings. See rock art and animals. too. Free for personal and non-commercial use. From African History About.com.

• Asante Kente Weaving Video - (Archive) By Andy Carvin. This may force a download for some browsers. The video was shot in the historic Kente weaving village of Bonwire, about an hour south of Kumasi. Three weavers are featured, each using a traditional loom to make the cloth. The video also contains music performed by Ghanaian drummer Obo Addy. Kente Cloth Symbols (Archive)

• Discovering Mudcloth - (Archive) Explore the many meanings of mudcloth and make your own Bogolanfini. See how Nakunte Diarra makes mudcloth and learn about the symbols she uses. Traditional patterns refer to Bamana culture and history. An African Voices Exhibit

• African Textiles / Kuba cloth - (Archive) Image and brief information about textiles of the Kuba. From African Conservancy Gallery.

• Learn about textiles (Archive)

• Bark cloth painting of the Mbuti women [Archive] - Slide show with music.

• Kuba cloth (archive) and the relationship to quilting. See Quiltethnic.com (Archive) and Fante of Ghana - Asafo Flags (Archive)

Africa Today

• Dan Heller's Photographs of Mali See more photographs from Africa - click on country

• Photographs of Mali and Burkina Faso by Gary Cook. See photographs from other countries in Africa

• Dogon Photo Album - Excellent photographs of the people and region.

• Dogon Blacksmiths [Archive]

History of Africa

• African Voices: Interactive Timeline Takes you from Pre-History to today. Click on Timeline to the right or History on bottom menu. See also Themes and Focus.

• Ancient Africa in the Electronic Passport Brief histories of regions on ancient Africa written by Mike Dowling, geography teacher. See also Oral Traditions.

• Information for individual African countries - (Archive) Click on name of country for Internet resources.

• Kings of Africa - (Archive) It took Daniel Laine, three years of effort and intense diplomatic steps to realize this fantastic work. During this period, he was able to photograph 70 sovereigns, descendants of the great African dynasties.

• The Story of Africa BBC World Service

• Mr. Donn's History of Africa Lesson Plan Links