Shaw, Thomas M.

Dr. Thomas Shaw is Professor of Art History at Kean University, New Jersey. He holds a Ph.D. in Art History from Columbia University. Dr. Shaw's previously published research has focused on West African art and architecture and on African-American art.

Fulani Matrix of Beauty and Art in the Djolof Region of Senegal

1994 0-7734-9395-6
The Fulani are one of the most widely dispersed groups in West Africa. This book focuses on one group, the Djolof Fulani, and takes a long look at the Fulani castes, especially the griots and wood carvers. Its conclusion also discusses the problems of labeling objects as Fulani art. In particular it examines one kind of art, their milk bowls, which are made by men and decorated by women of the caste of wood carvers. There is an attempt to sort out the meaning and context of the geometric designs on the bowls. This study fills a lacuna in the study of African art.

Irony and Illusion in the Architecture of Imperial Dakar

2006 0-7734-5859-X
This book focuses on the architectural transformation that occurred in imperial Dakar. Several ideas are central to the work and they form its core: that the style was the result of a conscious effort of the French to enhance their colonial authority in West Africa; that it represented one positive outcome of the forced encounter of European and African culture through French colonialism; and that the style, despite its specific origins, is surprisingly linked to the long history of African architectural traditions. This book is of great value to scholars in African architecture and twentieth-century architecture, and also for those studying the colonial period of sub-Sahara Africa.