Africanization of Icons: A Triptych of Religious Paintings
Abstract
Painting on a wall is one of the oldest forms of self expression known to man. From the caves of South Africa, Tassifi mountains of Algeria. to France and Spain. man has left images of his lifestyle on the walls of earn which were used as plain of worship. Murals of icons which begun in Europe around the 3rd century BC continued through the Byzantine era and were refined in the 16th century Murals with Christian themes are found in mane chapel in Ghana, particularly in Catholic chapels. However, most of the icons are Caucasian or European and have not been acculturated to identify with the Indigenes as in Europe. This paper discusses three paintings - THE CREATION ANDFALL OF MAN, THE NATIVITY, THE CRUXIFICATION and ASCENSION - which are pan of the Efia Kuma mural project. The project was commissioned by the Franciscan Friars with the aim to put In pictures. any three biblical stories and also to beautify the chapel. Cultural artifacts, the architecture of the chapel, the occupation of the indigenes, Best African models were some of the points considered and incorporated in the paintings to indigenes Icons in Ghana.