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Inventaire original MEG. Registres tapuscrits, volumes 19 à 59
Registres_tapuscrits/39620.pdf
The term "Yoruba" refers to a language and various ethnic groups in a region in West Africa stretching from the middle Niger to the Atlantic coast, between Nigeria and Benin. Oduduwa, the original Yoruba divinity, ruled over the mythical city of Ife, where the world was created. He is the ancestor of all the sovereigns in the Yoruba kingdoms (Oyo, Owo, Ketu, etc.) and of the Edo kingdom in Benin after the fall of the Ogiso dynasty.
Although Yoruba territory was and still is rich in art forms, wooden sculpture is still the most representative of its cultural practices. Majestic statues and delicate low reliefs are decorated with divinities or their officiants, twins, or power figures. The masters of workshops renowned for their style are recognised for a particular epa or gèlèdè mask, a carved veranda post or door, a statue of a rider or a maternity figure. In the 1950s, Yoruba sculpture was "modernised"; stimulated by commissions from the missionaries and then from states and cities, it developed a new "neo-traditional" style.
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