1. Performance
1.1. "On this occasion, grandmothers painted flowing designs on the bodies of girls whose reproductive lives were beginning with the flow of menstrual blood, for celebrations made enjoyable by the flowing of manioc beer produced by their mothers" (Burt, 112).
1.1.1. There is significance behind the designs. They hold the meaning of "coming of age" and it importance to the women's identity.
1.2. "If costumes can distinguish people, they can also unite them in displays of solidarity, coordination, and strength that may impress even those who do not understand the body symbolism" (Burt, 114).
1.2.1. Costumes and parades help people who do not understand the importance behind the costume feel closer or be amazed with the performance.
2. Archaeology
2.1. "This work identified certain human and other figures and objects as motifs that recurred in certain combinations, apparently as “scenes"...More elaborate recurring combinations of motifs, comprising several such scenes, were identified as “themes” that illustrated a set or sequence of activities" (Burt, 129).
2.1.1. Scenes within iconography of show a story or important event in history within the culture.
2.2. "The fact that motifs from this scene, such as animated weapons and certain costumed figures including the owl, also occur in the “sacrifice” scene suggests a narrative continuity between these (and other) scenes...Such scenes or themes could portray focal episodes in a Moche cosmological narrative as enacted in ritual roles and performances, representing some deep concerns of Moche culture for the resolution of chaos and the maintenance of the social and cosmic order" (Burt, 134).
2.2.1. The scenes craved within Moche pot were not of daily life but of important ceremonies that played a major role within their culture.
3. The Work of Art
3.1. "The use of metaphor and other kinds of symbolism, creates patterns of meaning that are in the mind rather than in the senses. This can be achieved by speech or text, which gains extra appeal if combined with rhyme or rhythm as poetry, plus melody as song or bodily movements as dance, or with visual patterns in calligraphy; but the meanings of symbols have their own aesthetic or formal appeal as patterns of ideas" (Burt, 144).
3.1.1. In the views of Western art critics, art should be able to use symbolisms or other ways in order to draw out a meaning in the viewer's mind.
3.2. "The designs acted as mnemonics for telling or enacting the history, but, more than this, they enabled multiple interrelated levels of meaning to be combined in a single form in a way that words and actions alone could not convey. Through such designs, the Walbiri were able to envisage their cosmos as involving multiple layers of meaning" (Burt, 152).
3.2.1. Designs within art created the Walbiri were created with deeper meanings that were unable to be reproduce by words or actions.
4. Form
4.1. "What he regarded as significant was the form itself, not its representational content, if any: 'certain forms and relations of forms, stir our aesthetic emotions' and 'All systems of aesthetics must be based on personal experience—that is to say, they are subjective'" (Burt, 86).
4.1.1. Clive Bell believed that art forms should promote aesthetic and incite an emotional response without knowing the historical context.
4.2. "When the forms expressed deeper meanings, from the appreciation of technical virtuosity to symbolic associations, enjoyment of art became elevating" (Burt, 87).
4.2.1. Art forms that have a deeper meaning or history bring outs a deeper connection and response with the art .
5. Meaning
5.1. "Rather, they serve to identify concepts within the system of signs that people construct to communicate with each other in society as the “language,” spoken and unspoken, of their shared culture. In this “semiotic” approach to culture, visual signs can be interpreted, like speech, from an understanding of the underlying language or code" (Burt, 97).
5.1.1. Cultural art or art meanings can be used a "language" and hide an underlying message for the viewer to read.
5.2. "The people of Benin,...saw the world as a whole in terms of different realms with their own rulers and laws. As elsewhere in West Africa, animals in history, storytelling, and proverbs acted as metaphors for human characteristics, acting out human situations" (Burt, 102).
5.2.1. Animals are often used to represent different meanings. Some examples of animals can be a lion which has the meaning "king or strength"