The animal tales around the fire in the evening, the music which accompanies manual labor such as harvesting, or the use of masks in group celebrations all contrast by their settings with Western art forms. We tend to read novels, watch TV, listen to music or contemplate pictures in a gallery by ourselves. We value art forms which differ from dramatically from the past. We expect the artist to be an oddball, barely remaining within the boundaries of human respectability. Because African art involves the total community and the individual finds his identity within the group, art tends to stabilize society rather than to threaten its basic values.
Social conformity is more important than the development of individual idiosyncrasies.
The same is true for the Mennonite covering which provides evidence of group unity. Mennonites don't expect the covering to reflect individual creativity because they value more highly their common faith than self-expression. In case you haven't noticed, I have used a dialectical approach in my presentation of African art, making it appear to be diametrically opposed to Western art. One can also turn one dialectical perspective against another. For example, a Marxist sees all Western, non-socialist art from a functional point of view since it supports the bourgeois power structure.