Intersections

Empowering Leaders

Africa has been rich in arts supporting leadership and governance from precolonial times to the present. Whether in the context of military states, royal confederacies, sacred chieftaincies, or councils of elders, the arts have served to uphold and strengthen those in power and their domains. In turn, rulers have often been patrons of the arts with the volume of artistic production dependent on their ability to marshal ample resources.

This section explores particular examples of African leadership to demonstrate that political power can be defined only in specific cultural contexts. It may, for example, reside in a king’s quick wit and oratorical wisdom, or it may arise from a ruler’s link to the spirit world. Sometimes power results from a delicate balance between a ruler and other branches of government. In such a case the arts can serve to ensure social control and justice.