Welcome back!
The Artwork of the IFE
Ife was the first of all
Yoruba cities. Ado-Ekiti, Oyo and Benin came later and grew and expanded as a
consequence of their strategic locations at a time when trading became
prosperous.
Ife, unlike Benin and Oyo,
never developed into a true kingdom. But though it remained a city-state it had
great importance to the Yoruba's as the original sacred city and the dispenser
of basic religious thought.
According to the oral
traditions of the Yoruba people, Ife is the place where life and civilization
began. Ife is regarded as the legendary homeland of the Yoruba-speaking peoples
and its sacred ruler, the Ooni, is still revered as the descendant of the
original creator gods. Ife is located in Osun State in modern southwestern
Nigeria.
To the Yoruba’s, Ife was
the center of the creation of the world and all mankind. In the city of Ife
were sacred groves located in the city’s forests. In two groves were found
numerous sculptures: in the Ore Grove human and animal figures were left. In
the Iwinrin Grove, terra-cotta heads and fragments from life-size figures remained.
In Yoruba tradition,
women artists used clay to make artwork. They were creators of the clay
terracottas found in Iwinrin Grove. Men sculpted and cast the bronze works. It
is speculated that works that have been found using both terracotta and
metalworking, might have been collaborative.
Ife 1
Nigeria; Yoruba (Ife) peoples
Head of a queen
Clay
H. 25 cm (9 13/16")
National Museum, Lagos, Nigeria, 79.R.7
Image 2
Royal portrait-like cast, 12th-14th century AD.
British Museum
Image 3
Ife Style Terracotta Sculpture of a Seated Figure
Image 4 ONI
The Oni (King) of Ife,
himself considered to be descended from the god Odudua, determined the
legitimacy of all other Yoruba kings by assessing their right to wear royal
beaded crowns.
Full-length statues
depict a standing Oni. The proportion of head to body is important. Remember
this, the artists abstracted the figures to emphasize the importance of the
head. They could have made these realistic, but that was not the INTENTION.
“...Fundamental principle
of African Art is “one’s destiny resides in the head. The head is emphasized
because it is the seat of a person’s intelligence and character.”
Lynn Mackenzie
Non – Western Art
Benin Kingdom; Nigeria
The artwork was produced to celebrate life in
royal court. Ancestral altars were created that held figures and bronze
portrait heads of past Obas/kings. The sculpture and other treasures objects
reinforced the power of the Oba.
The altars and the artwork were destroyed
destroyed by a British raid in 1897 (stay tuned for this raid is deserving of
an entire blog post).
In addition to the physical loss of much of
the artwork, the context of many of the works has been lost. Without the
historical shrine, we can only speculate as to that the specific INTENTION of
the artist might have been.
Ivory mask
Edo peoples, probably 16th century AD
From Benin, Nigeria
Brass helmet mask for the Ododua ritual
Edo peoples, 18th century AD
From Benin, Nigeria
Bronze figure of a hornblower
Edo peoples, late 16th - early 17th century AD
From Benin, Nigeria
I could go on and on
writing about African artwork. It was my emphasis area in grad school at Iowa.
But, I would like to move on but before we do lets’ take a quick journey to the
contemporary to let you know that brilliant artwork is still being made in
Africa.
Marjorie
Maleka
"This
is my story"
Etching
& oil pastel 424 x 371mm
In South Africa prints
embracing both the personal and social are created at the Artists Proof Studio:
Stay tuned for an entire post (rant) about the Benin Invasion.
