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What does the word earth mean to you? Clay? Sand? How about salt? Does your definition include the cities that increasingly sprawl across our planet's surface?

Across the vast African continent, artists have found inspiration in the earth's mud, pigments, plants, stone, ash, and incredibly diverse resources. These materials have been used to express personal or cultural identity, provide connections to the generations who have walked the land before us, build fantastic structures, and imagine what we have lost to time. The ideas and arts inspired by the earth are as diverse as the materials this planet and its land provide.



Andrew Putter
b. 1965, South Africa
Hottentots Holland: Flora Capensis 2
2008
Archival pigment ink on cotton rag paper
Photography and compositing: Tony Meintjes
Flower arranging: Christopher Peter
Courtesy Michael Stevenson Gallery



Yombe artist, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, and Republic of the Congo
Nkisi nkondi (power object)
19th century
African teak (Chlorophora excels), metal, feathers, pigments, earth, glass, textiles, mirror, claws
Musée royale de l'Afrique centrale, Tervuren, Belgium EO.0.0.22438



Berni Searle
b. 1964, South Africa
Seeking Refuge
2008
Streaming video (5 min. 51 sec)
Edition of 5 + 2 artist's proofs
Courtesy Michael Stevenson Gallery




Jide Alakija
b. 1977, England
Invisible Cities #1 (Bombay)
2008 (2013 exhibition print)
Fuji crystal archival print
Courtesy Tafeta and Partners




Helga Kohl
b. 1943, Germany
Family Accommodation/Portfolio Kolmanskop
1994 (2013 exhibition print)
Photograph (Agfa RSX 50 slide film)
Collection of the artist




Kurumba artist, Burkina Faso
Storage vessel
Mid-20th century
Ceramic
National Museum of African Art, gift of Saul Bellow, 81-10-1


Earth Matters home | Material Earth | Power of the Earth | Imagining the Underground | Strategies of the Surface | Art as Environmental Action | Earth Works |
Earth Matters blog | Earth Matters Family Guide (pdf) | Earth Matters Program Guide (pdf) | Artist Quotes | Earth Matters Performance Art | Artist Biographies | Twitter interviews | Earth Matters Lesson Plans (.pdf)


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