Art and Risk in Ancient Yoruba
Cambridge University Press
Edition: Reprint, 11/2/2017
EAN 9781108431040, ISBN10: 1108431046
Paperback, 598 pages, 25.5 x 18 x 3.5 cm
Language: English
In this book, Suzanne Preston Blier examines the intersection of art, risk and creativity in early African arts from the Yoruba center of Ife and the striking ways that ancient Ife artworks inform society, politics, history and religion. Yoruba art offers a unique lens into one of Africa's most important and least understood early civilizations, one whose historic arts have long been of interest to local residents and Westerners alike because of their tour-de-force visual power and technical complexity. Among the complementary subjects explored are questions of art making, art viewing and aesthetics in the famed ancient Nigerian city-state, as well as the attendant risks and danger assumed by artists, patrons and viewers alike in certain forms of subject matter and modes of portrayal, including unique genres of body marking, portraiture, animal symbolism and regalia. This volume celebrates art, history and the shared passion and skill with which the remarkable artists of early Ife sought to define their past for generations of viewers.
Introduction
art, risk, and creativity
Part I. Art, Risk, and Identity
1. Art making
artists, subjects, technologies, and media
2. Experiencing art
sight, site, and perspectives of viewing
3. If looks could kill
aesthetics and political expression
4. Embedding identity
marking the Ife body
Part II. Politics, Representation, and Regalia
5. A gallery of portrait heads
political art
6. Animal avatars
art, identity, and the natural world
7. Crowning glory
the art and politics of headgear
8. Battling with symbols
scepters, staffs, and seats
Conclusions.