Mande potters leather work : Art and heritage in West Africa

Abstract

I am often asked how I became engaged with Africa and the study of African art. What could possibly lead a middle-class kid on a journey of discovery from a small town amid the cornfields of Illinois to the dry and distant terrain of the West African savanna? What was it about the artistic heritage of another people that captured my heart and mind? My parents were teachers of art and literature who instilled in their children a love of travel and an openness of mind and spirit. My father chose to take the family with him on a sabbatical leave to England when I was eight years old. My first remembered encounter with another culture. Several years later my family hosted a young woman from Madagascar for the academic year through the American Field Service exchange program. At the time Yari Robinson (Jeannoda) was a delightful, if somewhat exotic, older sister. She and her family have been part of our extended family ever since. It was our second AFS student who introduced me to the...