El Anatsui Old Man's Cloth

In the Harn museum in Gainesville there's a large drape of cloth called “Old Man’s Cloth” by sculptor and artist El Anatsui. Anatsui is a very prominent figure in the art world, he was born in Ghana, but most of his career life was in Nigeria. Anatsui’s work is recognized all over the world and recently won the Praemium Imperiale award this year. This sculptor makes use of his materials which include copper, clay, wood, and not long ago he started to experiment with discarded metal caps from liquor bottles this way his artwork is manageable, lightweight and stretchable. Basically Anatsui uses material of different procedures like cassava skimmers, train tracks, and even floating pieces of wood from the riverbank.Anatsui’s attended the Science and Technology University in Kumasi, Ghana.

In the”old man’s cloth” in particular he used metals such as copper which is a metal that is soft and manageable, also it’s not magnetic. Copper has a orangy-red color and is very abundant and easy to find. Anatsui incorporates aluminium which is a metal that’s silver/white and soft. Aluminum is a very common metal to find on earth, and it’s cheap, so it's very accessible. It’s also resistant to corrosion meaning it doesn't rust. El Anatsui may have used this materials on his sculpture to give a sense of humbleness and poverty to

Anatsui was inspired by the joy of his people. v Another beautiful african tradition is storytelling. Kente clothes tell stories through their significant colors. A young man may have a black and yellow kente cloth stole made for his graduation meaning he has reached maturity (black) and he is precious to his family and hope for wealth (yellow). El Anatsui tells a story, a recounting of events, in the “Old Man’s Cloth” of stressful trading between Africa and Europe of slaves and