The History of African American Music and Art

There have been many pieces of African American art and music that have influenced the world around us today. Music from the time period of slavery still ties into today’s world and music and art all the way back to 500BC and older still impacts art and culture in more modern times. Indigenous art was made with the natural materials they had, like rocks and dirt.

They made sculptures out of crude tools and today we can look at them and tell what the sculpture is supposed to be. They sculpted out of clay and would sometimes use rocks to make smaller pieces of art. Some sculptures were used as ways to show respect to gods or they showed respect to the dead. The art that was produced inspired famous artists that we know today like, Picasso and Matisse. Many of the pieces inspired by African American art focused on how abstract, the balance in asymmetry, and the primal yet sophisticated nature that was portrayed.