Africa
What this unit covers
The topics below follow the published Art History course framework for Unit 6. This unit is worth 6% of the exam, so budget your time against that rather than against how long the unit takes to teach.
Lessons in this unit
- Architecture & the Arts of Kingship14 min · 3 objectivesDescribe how African monumental architecture used local materials and communal labor · Explain how royal arts in Benin, Asante, Kuba, and Yoruba courts expressed and preserved power · Analyze how form and material communicate status, history, and the sacred
- Masks, Performance & Power Objects14 min · 3 objectivesExplain how African masks function only in performance, uniting sculpture, music, and dance · Describe how power objects such as the nkisi n’kondi work through activation and community belief · Analyze how ideals of beauty, memory, and social order are embodied in masks and figures
What examiners penalize here
- African royal arts repeatedly use **relative scale** to encode status and relationships — the Oba dominating attendants, or Olowe of Ise making the senior wife larger than the king to show she upholds his rule. When asked how a work conveys power, describe *who is bigger and why*, not just that the ruler appears.
Practice Art History
Our practice bank is drawn from across the whole course rather than filtered to one unit, which is closer to how the exam asks anyway — it will not tell you which unit a question is testing.
Questions about this unit
How much of the AP Art History exam is Unit 6?
Unit 6, Africa, is worth 6% of the Art History multiple-choice section according to the published course framework. Across all 10 units that makes it one of the lighter units, so it is not where a review phase should start.
What topics are covered in Art History Unit 6?
Africa covers Masks, Sculpture, Textiles and Function.
How should I study Art History Unit 6?
Read the 2 lessons below first — about 30 minutes — then work practice questions on these topics. Finish with practice questions and read the explanation for every one you get right by elimination as well as the ones you miss.
All 10 units of AP Art History
Unit names, topics and exam weights follow the published College Board course framework for AP Art History. AP® is a trademark registered by the College Board, which does not endorse this site.