Christian Arts of Africa and its Diaspora Introduction

African Christians use art and dress in a variety of religious experiences. This special issue focuses on the histories as well as aesthetic, spiritual, and moral meanings associated with these materials in Africa, Europe, and the United States. While Ethiopian church art emerged after the fourth century, early Christian missionary activities elsewhere in Africa often entailed the use of European religious art and dress as part of the conversion process. However, African Christian art was subsequently produced in several parts of Africa. The movement of Africans to Europe and the Americas has also led to an expansion of the forms of African Christian artistic expression, underscoring the oscillating dynamics of African Christian art and its expression in a global context.