Art, Honor, and Ridicule: Fante Asafo Flags from Southern Ghana

Art, Honor, and Ridicule book cover

Art, Honor, and Ridicule: Fante Asafo Flags from Southern Ghana

  • Categories
    Art & Culture
  • Publisher
    ROM
  • Publication Year 2017
  • Size
    9" x 12"
  • Pages
    304
  • Format
    Hard Cover
  • ISBN
    978-0-88854-516-9
  • Price
    $49.99
  • Author
    Silvia Forni, Doran H. Ross

About the Book

This landmark publication explores the stunning textile-based artistic tradition associated with the military companies of the Fante people in Ghana. It accompanies the Royal Ontario Museum’s exhibition asafo flags and examines the cultural, political, social, and aesthetic facets of the textile art produced by a number of Fante workshops in central-southern Ghana for the use of the asafo military companies of the region. Unlike the only other existing book on the topic written by Peter Adler, this book takes a holistic approach to the analysis of the aesthetic components of the asafo performances. The striking visual vocabulary of the flags is in fact closely linked to the architectural, sculptural, poetic, performative and musical expressions of the Fante. This publication is an extraordinary introduction to the world of visual, chromatic, and narrative competition that characterizes the public display of asafo companies.