Benin Bronzes

artwork worth: to the artist who made it? Or to the people who owned it? I believe that this art work was very valuable to the Oba because it provided a visual tradition to add to the audible tradition well established in Africa. Also, the Benin artists working in bronze were organized into a type of guild under royal decree and lived in a special area of the palace under the direct control of the Oba. Their quality was superior when the king was especially powerful, allowing him to employ a…

spread out from Ife to create and found the other Yoruba states. Different from its neighboring empire Oyo. Ife was most known for its artists who would create sculptures from bronze, stone, and terracotta. But this slowly became less and less as political power and money started to change with their neighboring kingdoms Benin and Oyo. Even though this kingdom was able to avoid most of the war with the Fulani the Empire ran into problems with having control over their slave trade with Owu.…

Question 3: African Art The African art has several similarities with European art. For instance, due to the influence of Islam and Christianity, most of their art have religious or political purposes. However, wood is the material of their choice. They also used other natural materials, which unfortunately did not survive the pass of time. Moreover, only in special circumstances pottery was created to embellish the houses of their rulers and noble men. For them, pottery was simplistic,…

sculptures of her head made in order to recognize her military influence and achievements, and placed these heads in her alter after her death. In 1897, during the period in which Africa was under colonial rule by the British, British men “ransacked the Benin Empire” and forcefully took the heads away to display them as a representation of their imperial grandeur. The brass head of Queen Idia, donated to the British Museum by Sir William Ingram, relates to colonialism and is a painful reminder…

the semester, when observing multiple forms of art; while all struck me to be beautiful, the one individual piece of work that I saw truly inspiring was the Bronze Head of Ife, which dated back to 600 A.D. This work inspired me because of how the art was way ahead of the time period in which it was created. The procedure to craft these bronze heads was complex in the way of casting the metal, and furthermore, it required large amounts of manual labor. This form of artwork was underrated at…

This also shows that government values art as an important aspect of culture. Furthermore, in Document 7 the extensive process of making a bronze sculpture is described. The oral account given by the artisan states, “This work is one to cause wonder” The very artistic and masterful process of making metal statues involves using a wide variety of materials. Benin figures are made by pouring wax, copper,, zinc, and lead into a clay forms. These materials are then heated with fire. Once the statue…

the most popular museums in the world, and it provides free entry to all its visitors. It is full of rare artifacts dating back to thousands of years from different civilizations of the world. From Egyptian mummies to African terracotta arts, and Benin bronze artifacts, you can view everything for…

How people understand colonialism is largely dependent on the cultural and societal context in which they inhabit. While the colonized peoples are forced to experience the true effects of colonialism firsthand, the people of the colonizing nation only experience colonialism from the periphery and only experience its positive effects. Therefore, their understanding of colonialism is shaped by the narrative created by those in power, those who reap the most benefits from the colonization of…

5. Anioma Festivals <<<IMAGE>>> One of Several Anioma Traditional Attires <<<IMAGE>>> Unique to Aniomaland, Akwa Ocha is an important apparel in the socio-cultural life of the people The people of Anioma have a very rich cultural heritage. All through the nine Local Government Areas of Delta State that constitute Aniomaland, there are several cultural festivals and other traditional carnivals, which provide deep insight into the history, lives and indeed…