October 16, 1981

Terra cotta treasures from the ancient West African civilizations of Mali and Ghana are on view at the African-American Institute, First Avenue at 47th Street, through Jan. 9. Most of the 59 sculptures date from the 12th to the 17th centuries and include Akan works from Ghana created solely by women. The oldest item is a ninthcentury snake head. On Second Avenue, at 56th Street, an exhibition of Japanese ceramics is on through Oct. 25 at the Old Horizons Gallery of the Manhattan Art & Antique Center. The 19 pieces, from the 15th to 20th centuries, include items used in the traditional Japanese tea ceremony. Both exhibitions are free. CANADIAN BRASS ON L.I. Members of the Canadian Brass take their music, but not themselves, seriously; they always include a few ''choreographed'' pieces, and they always chat. Their program tonight at 8:30 at the new C.W. Post Concert-Theater, off Route 25A in Greenvale, L.I., ranges from Bach to Fats Waller and includes a ''Killer Tango,'' which pairs the two trumpet players in some appropriate footwork. The event opens the ''great performances'' series of Friends of the Arts. Single tickets are $10. Reservations are suggested: (516) 922-0061.

AS the art season goes into high gear, SoHo, alive with artists, galleries and those who come to look at both, is drawing its usual crowds. This year, expectations are high, generated not only by the prospect of a bustling art season, but also by the promise of new directions in it. After a decade of Minimal and Superreal, there's a new interest in the bold Expressionist work of young artists from Europe such as Reiner Fetting and Enzo Cucchi, as well as Ken Kiff (who can be seen in SoHo), and in the streetwise, high-energy art of the so-called New Wave, which is influenced by punk rock and the popular media. In range and in the number of qual- For some suggestions on where to dine when in SoHo, see page C20. ity art dealers, SoHo is still an outpost of the uptown scene, where art from the oldest masters to the newest yougsters is plentifully purveyed. But the small, crowded quarter downtown, with its narrow, intimate streets, its casual drop-in cafes and the sense of a creative community that it retains despite the invasion of uptown chic, seems to be a more relaxed place for people to meet, talk and buy contemporary art than the chilly canyon of 57th Street.

The Polish Government and the independent Solidarity union agreed today on a temporary freeze on price increases until a system of compensation for the lowest paid workers could be put into effect. The agreement, reached at the start of the first negotiations since August, applies to all but increases in gasoline and alcohol prices. It seems to represent a concession by the Government, which planned to introduce a series of price rises to reduce the drain of subsidies for a wide range of food and consumer products. Union members had been angered by a doubling of cigarette prices and increases in the cost of fish and canned fruit that went into effect last week during the closing stages of the union's national convention.

Elias Canetti, a 76-year-old writer whose books stem from the vanished cosmopolitan traditions of Central Europe, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature today. Mr. Canetti, who writes in German, was born in Bulgaria, educated in Switzerland, Germany and Austria, and is living in London. He was cited by the Swedish Academy for his ''writings marked by a broad outlook, a wealth of ideas and artistic power.'' He is the first native of Bulgaria to win the prize.

''ART of the Avant-Garde in Russia: Selections From the George Costakis Collection'' at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is the latest in what is by now a long series of exhibitions devoted to one aspect or another of avant-garde art in Russia between 1910 and 1930. London, Paris, Los Angeles and Washington - in that chronological order - have all had substantial exhibitions of this kind. But if New York in this context has taken its time, the Guggenheim show is a remarkable affair and rich above all in small-scale lyrical work that comes across with a remarkable freshness. Quite apart from that, there are artists in the show - among them Varvara Stepanova, Nadezhda Udaltsova, Olga Rozanova and Gustav Klucis -who make an effect of unexpected strength and variety. This is a show to remind us how Rozanova once said, ''Nothing in the world is more awful than the unchanging face by which an artist is known to his friends and collectors.''