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An explication of an Afrikan aesthetic requires an operative definition of aesthetic. This term evolved out of the Greek word “aesthetikos”, which means merely “perceptive”, but the term aesthetic is widely held to connote a philosophy of beauty. Aesthetic is normally spoken of as representing the standards by which a society assigns value to their cultural productions, especially their expressive art forms, such as music, dance, theatre and the visual arts (eg. painting and sculpture).
Although many Afrikan ethnic groups do not have a specific word or term similar to the word aesthetic, the value that they place on their artistic productions-music-dance, sculpture and masked spiritual entities is equal to the value that other societies place on similar art forms, and thus an Afrikan aesthetic exists in practice if not in name.
