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Major Exhibition Illuminates Culture and Civilization of Ife, Ancient African City-State
June 12, 2009For Immediate Release
June 12, 2009
MAJOR EXHIBITION ILLUMINATES CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION OF IFE, ANCIENT AFRICAN CITY-STATE
International tour of Dynasty and Divinity: Ife Art in Ancient Nigeria begins June 17; culminates at Museum for African Art, in New York City, in 2011.
Dynasty and Divinity: Ife Art in Ancient Nigeria, a landmark exhibition devoted to the art of Ife, the ancient city-state of the Yoruba people of West Africa (in present-day southwestern Nigeria), begins its international tour at the Fundación Marcelino Botín, in Santander, Spain, on June 17, 2009. The exhibition features more than 100 extraordinary bronze, terra-cotta, and stone sculptures, ranging in date from the ninth to the fifteenth centuries. Many of these have never been on display outside of Nigeria.
Dynasty and Divinity is co-organized by the Fundación Marcelino Botín and the Museum for African Art, in New York City, in collaboration with the Nigerian National Commission for Museums and Monuments.
Museum for African Art President Elsie McCabe states, “The selection brought together in Dynasty and Divinity is profoundly moving, both in its beauty and by the intense human emotions that motivated Ife artists. In addition, this is the first exhibition outside of Ife itself to focus exclusively on these remarkable works, and thus the first to offer a vivid portrait of the culture of this ancient Yoruba city-state. The exhibition reminds us that the legacy of Ife art extends far beyond the boundaries of Nigeria, continuing to inspire people and cultures across the globe. The Museum for African Art is thrilled to be working in partnership with the Fundación Marcelino Botín on this major project.”
Dynasty and Divinity will remain on view in Santander through August 30, 2009. The next venue will be in Madrid, in September, organized by the Spanish Ministry of Culture. In early 2010, the exhibition will be presented at the British Museum, in London, before beginning its North American tour, details of which will follow.
Paloma Botín, member of the Board of Trustees of the Fundación Marcelino Botín, notes, “The extraordinary cooperation between museums and officials in several countries that made this exhibition possible is a powerful demonstration of how we all benefit by exposure to art from the world’s many diverse cultures. The Fundación Marcelino Botín is delighted to inaugurate the international tour of Dynasty and Divinity, which will open the eyes of so many to the beauty and complexity of the art of Ife.”
Exhibition
Over the course of some four centuries, artists at Ife created sculpture that ranks among the most aesthetically striking and technically sophisticated in the world. Today, the city of Ife is still a spiritual heartland for the 29 million Yoruba people living in Nigeria and countless descendants in the Americas and elsewhere in the world. The present Ooni, or traditional ruler, of Ife, His Royal Majesty Alayeluwa Oba Okunade Sijuwade, Olubase II, heads one of the longest surviving monarchies in the world. Some of the objects in the exhibition, including a copper mask said to represent the fourteenth-century ruler Obalufon II, were kept in the Ooni’s palace until the 1950s, when they were transferred to the Nigerian Department of Antiquities for purposes of conservation, study, and display.
Dynasty and Divinity reveals the extraordinarily creative range of Ife art through a diversity of objects that includes handsome idealized portrait heads, exquisite miniatures, expressive caricatures of old age, monsters, lively animals, and sculptures showing the impressive regalia worn by Ife’s kings and queens. Together, these illuminate one of the world’s greatest art centers and demonstrate not only the technological sophistication of Ife artists, but also the rich aesthetic language they developed in order to convey cultural concerns.
The sculptures in the exhibition demonstrate the dignity and self-assurance readily associated with the idea of dynasty and the violence and misfortune that could befall human beings. Several superbly crafted copper alloy and terra-cotta heads and figures, for example, are expressive representations of the notion of authority, while startling representations of disease and deformity, rendered in stone and terra-cotta, show the afflictions that may result from both divine and worldly forces.
Among the exhibition’s many masterpieces are a group of life-size copper portrait heads, carved stone animals, and the spectacular seated male figure found in the town of Tada, Nigeria, shown dressed in an elaborate textile. Like many of the objects in the exhibition, the figure, dating from the late thirteenth or early fourteenth century, was still part of a shrine in use in the early twentieth century. Two important bronzes from the Kingdom of Benin show the link between Ife and Benin, whose traditional ruler is thought to be descended from the royal Ife dynasty.
All of the objects in Dynasty and Divinity are on loan from the Nigerian National Commission of Museums and Monuments and are a testament to the Nigerian Government’s commitment to preserving and sharing the country’s rich heritage. “The Nigerian Government is very proud to present this exhibition and to be able to share these treasures with people all over the world.” said Dr. Joseph Eborieme, director general of the National Commission of Museums and Monuments.
Catalogue
The exhibition catalogue has been written by Henry John Drewal, Evjue-Bascom Professor of Art History and Afro-American Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Adjunct Curator of African Art at the University’s Chazen Museum of Art, with an introductory essay by Enid Schildkrout, Chief Curator and Director of Exhibitions and Publications at the Museum for African Art. Published in both English and Spanish editions, it has 200 pages and 147 illustrations. For additional information, the public may visit the Museum’s website: www.africanart.org.
Support
The North American tour of the exhibition, Dynasty and Divinity is made possible, in part, by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts, with support for the catalogue from the Getty Foundation.
Museum for African Art
The Museum for African Art is one of the premier institutions in the United States devoted to exhibiting traditional and contemporary African art. On September 24, 2007, the Museum broke ground for a new building, designed by Robert A. M. Stern, at Fifth Avenue between 109th and 110th Streets, on Manhattan’s “Museum Mile.” The Museum will reopen in its new building in late 2010. The Museum’s administrative offices, educational facility, and gift shop are temporarily located in Long Island City, New York. Exhibitions are currently presented at off-site locations in New York City and at museums nationally and internationally. For additional information about the Museum and its exhibitions, the public may visit www.africanart.org or call 718-784-7700.
Fundación Marcelino Botín
The Fundación Marcelino Botín was founded in 1964 by Marcelino Botín-Sanz de Sautuola and his wife, Carmen Yllera. Its mission is to encourage, foster, and contribute to the creation of a fairer, more efficient, and responsible society. It is a Spanish foundation, with offices in Santander, the capital city of Cantabria, financed by its own capital and resources. Emilio Botín is the president of its Board of Trustees. The Fundación’s activities focus on four areas it considers priority concerns: the education of young people, the transfer of technological research to industry, rural development, and cultural endeavor. For further information, visit www.fundacionmbotin.org or contact prensa@fundacionmbotin.org.
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Press Information
For additional information about Dynasty and Divinity and the Museum for African Art, contact Jeanne Collins & Associates, LLC, New York City, 646-486-7050, or info@jcollinsassociates.com; or, Suzana Mihalic, External Press Office for International Communications, Fundación Marcelino Botín, bmcomunicacion@gmail.com.
