From Publishers Weekly
Arising around A.D. 800, the ancient, walled Yoruba kingdoms were complex city states headed by sacred rulers, both male and female. Their modern descendants, Yoruba-speaking peoples of Nigeria and Benin, have preserved traditional art forms rooted in a view of the cosmos as alive and in constant flux. The stunning catalogue of a traveling exhibition, this volume serves as a window onto a world where "character is beauty," where rebirth occurs continuously and where spirits, gods and the life force are all-pervasive. Naturalistic terracotta heads, beaded crowns, ceremonial staffs topped with stylized birds, and objects in ivory, bronze, stone and wood display rare artistry. Many of the pieces shown are best understood in a ritual context, provided by Drewal, an art historian at Cleveland State University, and Pemberton, a professor of religion at Amherst.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Robert Thompson has called the study of Yoruba art "the Shakespeare studies of African art" because so much research has been focused on this one African culture. This book, which accompanies a major exhibition, fully justifies all that scholarly attention. Yoruba-speaking peoples are the largest ethnic group in Africa, one which has been urbanized for over 1000 years. The visual arts of the Yoruba are thoroughly explored as aesthetic objects in their social, religious, political, and historical contexts. This book, which deserves the highest recommendation, may well be the finest example of African art scholarship yet published.
- Eugene C. Burt, Seattle
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Eugene C. Burt, Seattle
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
