African ArtĪfrican arts and craft include sculpture, weaving, beading, painting, The customs and traditions of each group have been woven into a tapestry as colourful and diverse as the people of Africa themselves. Traditional African homestead (Ndebele village in Zimbabwe)Įthnic groups and African tribes have customs that are unique to their culture. Over the centuries, African culture has meshed with cultures from around the world, although much of traditional African customs have remained throughout. Europeans began settling in the southern portion of the continent in the mid-17th century, as did South Asians, who settled in the areas of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa.

Arabs began crossing into North Africa from the Middle East in the 7th century, A.D., bringing with them the religion of Islam. The vast majority of people living in Africa are indigenous however, people from all over the world have migrated to Africa for hundreds of years. Throughout Africa, the people speak a variety of languages, practice numerous religions and reside in various types of dwellings. The culture of each ethnic groupĬentres on family and can be found in each group’s art, music and oral literature. The rich and diverse African culture varies not only from one country to another, but within each country as well. There is a Xhosa proverb that is common to all AfricanĬultures and languages, “Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu,” (“A person is a person through persons”). It is through relations with one’s community and surroundings that an individual becomes a person of volition, whose actions and decisions affect the entire group rather than just oneself. In African culture, the “self” is not separate from the world, it is united and intermingled with the natural and social environment.

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