Art History: The Nankani Compound In Ghana

Student Name: Shornaiter Richards
Student Identification Number: AC1207313
Course Number & Title: AR300 Art History
Assignment Number & Title: AR300C Assignment 08
Date of Submission: 26/08/2015
Assignment:

Part A
1. Read the following article and analyze the expert’s opinion that art can be a generator of “identity” for a community, and examine what is meant by the statement that “public art ‘humanizes’ cities.”

Haley, C. (2014, Mar 14). Civil art 'humanizes' places, expresses identity, lecturer at NDMOA says. McClatchy - Tribune Business News. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1507232112?accountid=45844.

NOTE: To access ProQuest articles, you MUST first open a Web browser window to the Ashworth College Library

Specifically, mural art decorations cover most of the compound walls in Siriguyi, Ghana and communicate information that identifies the artists’ society. In this society art is functional and serves a purpose of not only being decorative but depicting the culture of the Nankani in its symbolism. Motifs and reliefs that are recognizable are highly regarded by the community. According to Kofi, "the Ghanaian artist, as a distinct member of his society he always wishes to create something that is recognizable in his symbolism... and he is disinclined to exceed the semi- abstract in order to express it." Generally, the designers (women artists) conform to the traditional decorations that demonstrate a preference for art that can be recognized. The lifestyle of the Nankani has a profound influence on the art that is produced. These influences include the physical environment, the agrarian customs and the general Nankani culture itself. Hence, the Nankani Compound in Sirigu, Ghana, in its art celebrates all that is important to their life and this is shown (the same) on their pottery, baskets, their homes and even on the skin thus cementing cultural identity. Each design is symbolic of some aspect of their culture. These mural decorations, function as an interpretational art piece of the community and is therefore, very highly

His understanding of nature profoundly differs from our own. Wright felt this strong connection to nature throughout his life, and Fallingwater presented him with a unique opportunity to showcase it unlike his previous houses.
Designed for his elderly mother, Robert Venturi used the house – The Vanna Venturi - as a canvas to demonstrate some of the “complexities and contradictions” in modern architecture. With the Vanna Venturi house, his desire to challenge modern orthodoxy is apparent in the home’s façade, which acts as a sort of billboard for a house, with its pitched roofline and functionless arch – both clear departures from modernist principles.
Inside, rather than providing the order and simplicity that the modernists worshipped, Venturi’s design chose to surprise people with its contradictions. The interior design played with concepts of scale, with an oversized fireplace, and an undersized stairway which leads to nowhere. While the Vanna Venturi house is widely considered to be the first postmodern building, Robert Venturi insists he wasn’t trying to create a new movement. Maybe it was just ‘art’ and that “sometimes, rules are meant to be broken.” (Robert Venturi, wttw.com).