WASSCE SHS
Much of this art was made to be used. A mask, a stool, a cloth and a bronze head are not the same object, and they are not the same people.
A useful way into African art is function. A work can serve a ceremony, a chief, a household, or teaching. The meaning sits in that use, not only in the look. Religious belief and ritual are reasons the syllabus expects you to be able to name, without mocking them. Visual art is not the same as music, dance or oral literature, though a festival can hold all of them. If a question asks for the relationship, give the link and the difference. Asante, Fante and Ewe work are not interchangeable. Say the people when you know them.
Kente is a woven cloth. Adinkra is a cloth printed with symbols, and each symbol has a name and a meaning. Write the meaning only when you know it. Describing the symbol is better than inventing a proverb. An Akan stool can be a seat and a sign of office. A linguist staff speaks for a chief in public. Benin bronzes are court art, cast by the lost wax method: a wax model is invested in a mould, the wax is melted out, and molten metal takes its place. Ife heads are a different court tradition, in terracotta and in metal, known for a calm, observed face. Do not move a Benin plaque to Ife, or call Kente a printed symbol cloth. Contemporary Ghanaian artists and art teachers belong in the same revision. Name a person only when you can say what they made or taught. Tourism can carry these works to visitors. The object still has a meaning at home. A souvenir sentence is not the whole answer.
The General Knowledge in Art tips guide is the written paper: the objective items, the essay, and how to build a point. The Visual Arts tips guide covers the studio papers that sit beside it. Start practising on glearn.now with Kevin and Anna. WASSCE General Knowledge in Art tips
People, material, use and belief are the four checks. Kente is woven. Adinkra is printed. A stool is not a bronze head. Lost wax is a casting method, not a style of drawing. A guessed proverb does not score. A comparison needs both objects. If you name an artist, name the work. Do not collapse West Africa into one tribe.
These are practice questions in the style of the paper, with a model answer and a mark scheme. They are not a promise of what your paper will ask.
5 marks
(a) Distinguish between Kente and Adinkra. (4 marks)
(b) State one reason not to guess the meaning of a symbol. (1 mark)
(a) Kente is woven. Adinkra symbols are printed onto cloth. They are different cloths and different methods.
(b) A guessed meaning is a false fact. Describe the symbol if you do not know the proverb.
3 marks
Explain the lost wax method in three steps. (3 marks)
A wax model is covered with a mould. The wax is melted out. Molten metal is poured in and takes the shape of the space the wax left. Benin court bronzes are a usual example. Do not call the method a drawing.
2 marks
State two uses an Akan stool can have, besides being sold to a visitor. (2 marks)
It is a seat, and a chief's stool is a sign of office. It can also carry a family or spiritual meaning. A souvenir is not the only use.
More questions on this topic are inside glearn, marked as you answer, with the reason written out. The first ones need no account.
Practise General Knowledge in Art freeNo. Kente is woven cloth. Adinkra symbols are printed, and each symbol has a name and a meaning you should give only when you know them. One cloth does not stand for the other.
Open the practice on glearn.now. Anna marks WASSCE General Knowledge in Art. Kevin marks BECE Creative Arts and Design. The first questions need no account. The Visual Arts guide explains how this written paper sits beside the studio subjects. All WASSCE General Knowledge in Art past questions