The art traditions of southern Africa are diverse and ancient. From the late 12th to the 15th century, an ancient culture in Zimbabwe built immense granite structures without mortar. Numerous rock paintings, attributed to the San peoples, are found in the Kalahari Desert. More recently, the Bantu-speaking Nguni peoples, especially the Ndebele, created richly patterned beadwork.

Figurative carving traditions are relatively rare in eastern Africa, although there are notable exceptions: the funerary images of Madagascar and Kenya, Makonde masks and figures, and some sculptures from Tanzania that are stylistically related to those of Central Africa.

Peoples along the east coast of Africa carried on extensive trade with Arabia, Persia, and India. Cities along the Swahili coast have a remarkable style of architecture that reflects the influence of Arab civilizations on the Indian Ocean. Art objects for the most part are secular and limited primarily to utilitarian forms such as headrests, spoons, and stools. They are characterized by delicate openwork and interlace patterns.

In the Ethiopian highlands Christianity was introduced into the ancient Aksumite Empire (1st-10th century) in A.D. 330 from Coptic and Byzantine sources. This led to a distinctive Ethiopian art that includes brilliantly illuminated manuscripts and wooden panel paintings, extraordinary rockhewn churches, and silver and brass crosses that range from small pendants worn around the neck to larger versions carried in procession. Non-Christian Ethiopian religious imagery includes large wooden funerary figures created by the Konso and Gato peoples.