Blier, Suzanne Preston. Royal Arts of Africa: The Majesty of Form. London: Laurence King, 1998.

In West and Central Africa in the centuries just before and after European contact, powerful kingdoms flourished, each with its own distinct art practices. The royal arts of Benin, Yoruba, Dahomey, Asante, Kongo, Kuba, and others are the subject of this book. What are the court-art traditions of the African royal states? How do art and architecture define individual, dynastic, royal, and national identity? What is the impact on them of centuries of trade, colonization, and religious exchange? How is this art to be understood within its cultural context? Blier draws on a vast range of individual objects - crowns and masks, thrones and regalia, palace architecture, painting, textiles, body decoration, and jewelry - as well as archival photographs of art works in use in ceremonies and performances. Using detailed descriptions, she offers a subtle cultural reading of these complex arts. Blier’s thoughtful and expert examination goes beyond particular visual analysis to explore vital questions of royalty and power, divine kingship, state cosmology, the place of women at court, and the use of art in dynastic history, diplomacy, and war.

[Source: WorldCat].

Blier, Suzanne Preston. “Africa, Art, and History: An Introduction”. In A History of Art in Africa, edited by Monica Blackmum Visonà, Robin Poynor, and Hebert M. Cole,15-19. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003.

A History of Art in Africa is the only comprehensive art historical survey of the African continent to incorporate discussions of contemporary art and artists. It is both a reliable resource for art historians and an accessible introduction to the vibrant arts of Africa.

[Source: abstract obtained from Amazon]. 

Moussa Blimpo

Assistant Professor at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto

Contact: moussa.blimpo@utoronto.ca

Boanuh, David. “The Future of Film-Making in Africa is me.” Filmed in July 2020 at TEDxEastLegon, Ghana. Video, 12:53. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brea6PKoEoY

“The future of film-making in Africa is me. How videos and films during early childhood set me up on this path.” David Boanuh is a film-maker using visuals to tell the African story.

[Source: Video description]

Ozwald Boateng

Fashion House/Fashion designer

London, UK

Contact: 30 Savile Row
London
W1S 3PT

Telephone: +44 0207 437 2030
Email: store@ozwaldboateng.co.uk

Website: www.ozwaldboateng.co.uk

Boehmer, Elleke. Nelson Mandela : The Black Pimpernel. London: Zed Books, 2013. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350254169.

Nelson Mandela, in his incredible transition from one of the world's longest-detained political prisoners to iconic statesman, became an exemplary figure of integrity and moral fortitude. In this fascinating essay, Elleke Boehmer looks beyond Mandela the symbol to reveal the sophistication of his self-awareness, rhetorical style, political astuteness and strategic willingness to perform the roles required of him to achieve his political aim: freedom and equality in South Africa.

Source: Book description

Bohler-Muller, Narnia, Vasu Reddy, Gregory Houston, Maxi Schoeman, and Heather Thuynsma. The Texture of Dissent: Defiant Public Intellectuals in South Africa, 2022.

The Texture of Dissent presents concise political biographies of a myriad of prominent South African public intellectuals who were shaped by the contentious issues of their day. Showcasing the ways in which these individuals were involved in the "political work of social change," the contributors also reflect on the legacy of their defiant thought and action in today's complex environment.

Source: rienner.com

Bollig, Michael. Shaping the African Savannah : From Capitalist Frontier to Arid Eden in Namibia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020.

The southern African savannah landscape has been framed as an 'Arid Eden' in recent literature, as one of Africa's most sought after exotic tourism destinations by twenty-first century travellers, as a 'last frontier' by early twentieth-century travellers and as an ancient ancestral land by Namibia's Herero communities. In this 150-year history of the region, Michael Bollig looks at how this 'Arid Eden' came into being, how this 'last frontier' was construed, and how local pastoralists relate to the landscape. Putting the intricate and changing relations between humans, arid savannah grasslands and its co-evolving animal inhabitants at the centre of his analysis, this history of material relations, of power struggles between commercial hunters and wildlife, between wealthy cattle patrons and foraging clients, between established homesteads and recent migrants, conservationists and pastoralists. Finally, Bollig highlights how futures are being aspired to and planned for between the increasing challenges of climate change, global demands for cheap ores and quests for biodiversity conservation.

Source: Book description