Writing about the antique arts of Africa awakes, inevitably, a delicate predicament of equilibrium between its ethnology and aesthetics, both being equally significant perspectives. Hence, a narrative that exclusively depicts the arts of Africa from an aesthetical perspective, restricts it from a large portion of its meaning to the people of Africa.

It's as if Christians in Europe, completely ignored the Bible and then attempted to fully appreciate the tympanum of a Roman cathedral. So equally, when dealing with the art of Africa, for us to truly appreciate its beauty, we must understand its motive, its purpose, and its mythical sense for the African artists and those who celebrated it.

Otherwise, we hold a beautiful, yet incomplete portrait of the African identity and culture.

Similar to the aesthetics, if a narrative on African art chooses to privilege its ethnological features over the aesthetics, it further mutilates the creative spirit, reducing it to the object level, and overlooking the fact that all artworks were purposefully made to serve the people.

The time has come to declare that the antique arts of Africa enrich the artistic heritage of humanity. These works not only remind us of the origin of our creative nature, but also deserve to be appreciated to the same extent as other masterpieces that, thus far, have savored much higher recognition such as the works of Michelangelo or Picasso.

It's time to better appreciate the beauty, the power, the delicacy, and the compelling nature of antique African art.

The complete appreciation of African art encourages a conscious effort from the Western spectator to retire from a habitual manner of reasoning about art, and strive to adopt the vision of the artists who create it, and the people it served. This point is especially significant due to the most delicate conception of them all, the Western idea of art.

The notion of art for the Western spectator is extraneous to that of the traditional African culture.

This doesn't mean that the beauty of antique African art hasn't flourished in other parts of the world, even though it wasn't called art and carried a distinct purpose as that of Western art. To this, the spectator must ask him/herself:

What then, replaces the Western notion of art in the African culture?

In the spirit of the African people, the art which was well made or pleasing to the eye is based on moral principles, and that which was useful and well acclimated to its purpose was based on traditions.

It's important not to ignore that underneath the antique African artworks’ apparent aesthetical attraction, there was always a philosophical dimension. The antique African artist existed to support social life principles.

In Africa, several of the antique artworks were consecrated to the glorification of a reign or royal community. The strong influence of royalty in arts, had often signified the birth of a roundup of artworks deliberately created to venerate the ruling class.

Antique African art was greatly founded on spiritual and religious fundamentals. The king or ruler was often regarded as a being of divine essence. Hence, this form of art embodied a myriad of moral and social standards.

Through its motifs and symbolism for example, the art from Africa fostered social cohesion and allowed hierarchies to function, inspiring respect for the customary laws and repressing misconduct from the people.

Due to this particular social orientation of antique African art, the human figure has been the most portrayed expression. Animals were also represented as characters that recreate and express the human behavior in a wilder form.

The African artist often had to respond to orders originating from supreme entities, such as court officials and secret societies. His inspiration didn't arise from an individual ambition, instead, the artist performed within the traditional norms, which always allowed space for a diverse set of artistic creations.

Since a superficial glance can provoke the spectator to assume a uniform art characterized by specific immutable traits, it's crucial to recognize the great geographical influence on the antique African art panorama.

Each region of Africa has created its art forms which derived uniquely from the visible manifestations in the collective psyche of its ethnicities and royals.

In each ethnic group of Africa, art was manifested in all aspects of life and went beyond the traditional domain of statues and masks, to englobe adorned and carved objects, musical instruments, weapons, and finally, corporal arts such as headdresses and scarifications.

The arts of each ethnicity were the expression of a particular manner of seeing the world, built upon tacit, unconscious, and spontaneous experiences that orient the creation of vivid, comprehensive, and appreciative or fearful realities for all its members.