African ceramic artists

Pottery is one of Africa's oldest arts — some of the world's earliest ceramics were made in the Sahara — and for most of its history it has been the work of women, building pots by hand and firing them in the open (see African pottery). Modern African ceramic artists grew out of that tradition. Ladi Kwali, a Gwari potter from northern Nigeria, joined Michael Cardew's training centre in Abuja and became world-famous; her portrait is on the 20 naira note. Magdalene Odundo, who learned from the same women potters, builds burnished vessels now in more than fifty museums.

Others took clay in different directions: Reinata Sadimba of Mozambique models fantastic Makonde figures; Safia Farhat was a pioneer of ceramics and tapestry in Tunisia; El Anatsui worked in fired clay before his famous metal hangings; and the Ethiopian-born Etiyé Dimma Poulsen makes slender figures in clay and bronze. These are Africa's ceramic artists with Wikipedia articles, most looked-up first. See also African sculptors.