
Art, Performance and Ritual in Benin City
Charles Gore(Author)
Edinburgh University Press
Will be published approx. on 26. October 2007
Book
Hardback
256 pages
978-0-7486-3316-6 (ISBN)
Description
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.
Reviews / Votes
This seminal book on the urban shrines of Benin City, Nigeria, is a densely composed work of anthropology. Gore adds an important study of Benin shrine arts to the corpus of available research. -- Christian Lund * Africa * Gore's book is important for its detailed study of numerous contemporary shrines, ohens and artists, as well as its historiography of the field of Benin studies. -- Courtnay Micots * Journal of African History * Gore's book is important for its detailed study of numerous contemporary shrines, ohens and artists, as well as its historiography of the field of Benin studies. -- Coutrnay Micots * Journal of African History *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
With dust jacket
Illustrations
37 colour illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 236 mm
Width: 155 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
658 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7486-3316-6 (9780748633166)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Charles Gore
Art, Performance and Ritual in Benin City
E-Book
07/2019
1st Edition
Edinburgh University Press
€0.00
Available for download
Person
Charles Gore is an artist and Lecturer in the History of African Art, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).
Content
Introduction; 1 History, Art History and the Edo Kingdom; 2 Shrines and Deities; 3 Priests and Shrines; 4 The Life Histories of Some Ohens; 5 Artists and Artworlds; 6 Songs for the Gods; 7 The Parrot's Tale; 8 Art History and Artefact.