Synopses & Reviews
This book explores the roles of contemporary urban shrines and their visual traditions in Benin City. It focuses on the charismatic priests and priestesses who are possessed by a pantheon of deities, the communities of devotees, and the artists who make artifacts for their shrines. The visual arts are part of a wider configuration of practices that include song, dance, possession and healing. These practices provide the means for exploring the relationships of the visual to both the verbal and performance arts that feature at these shrines. The analysis in this book raises fundamental questions about how the art of Benin, and non-Western art histories more generally, are understood. The book throws critical light on the taken-for-granted assumptions which underpin current interpretations and presents an original and revisionist account of Benin art history.
Synopsis
An ethnography and investigation into performance art in Benin City, Nigeria.
Synopsis
Charles Gore Explores the role of contemporary urban shrines and their visual traditions in Benin City. Focusing on the charismatic priests and priestesses who are possessed by a pantheon of deities, Gore analyzes fundamental questions about the history of non-Western and Benin art.
About the Author
Charles Gore is Lecturer in the History of African Art at the SOAS