The The Swahili Carved Doors

Abstract

The famous Swahili carved doors, which are also known as Zanzibar carved doors, are important art objects of the Swahili coast which runs from Mogadishu in Somalia to adjacent places such as Madagascar, Comoros, Zanzibar, Pemba, Bagamoyo and Lamu. However, much of the discussion in the literature on the doors lack a framework for analysis to enable the average reader as well as an art student to follow the argumentation and elucidation systematically. This paper adopts a framework for the analysis of artworks conceived by Prof. Elias Jengo in his several lectures on traditional as well as contemporary art. The framework is made up of four interrelated components such as patronage, stylistic characteristics, social functions and the media. We shall use these in our analysis of the carved doors.