Drawing on Culture: An Artist's West Africa Travelogue (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780982668931)

In Drawing on Culture, artist and ethnomusicologist Dave Kobrenski takes readers on an artistic journey of cultural discovery into the heart of West Africa.

For two decades, Kobrenski studied music with master djembé players in Guinea, returning year after year to the historical homeland of the Mali Empire, carrying only a sketchbook and his curiosity. Living in a small village along the Niger River, he eventually turned his attention--and his art--to topics that concern us all: Why is culture important? What can we in the West learn from a village in West Africa? And why are so many cultures disappearing from the face of the Earth?

In Drawing on Culture, Kobrenski shares his artwork, stories, and insights about culture and worldviews with the keen eye of an anthropologist so that we might, in turn, see our own cultural worldview with new eyes. More than thirty new artworks from his time in Guinea are compiled here alongside his own field notes and essays. His portrait drawings inspire conversations about diversity, tradition, and why ancient ways of knowing are now more relevant than ever.

Both a visually rich travelogue and insightful ethnography, Drawing on Culture invites us to listen to our planet's oldest cultures so that we might come to understand how to regain ecological balance on a planet spinning out of control with human activity.

Author: Dave Kobrenski
ISBN-10: 0982668937
ISBN-13: 9780982668931
Publisher: Artemisia Books
Language: English
Published: 09/04/2020
Pages: 116
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.97lbs
Size: 10.90h x 8.30w x 0.30d