The Gallery Part 3

The history of Nigeria's art is however not continuous in either time or space, there are numerous gaps in our knowledge of Nigerian art history right from its earliest beginnings and its continuity up to the present day. This points to the fact that much remains to be learned through future research and discovery.
That not withstanding, archaeologists and art historians have been able to link stylistically the art forms from the Nok, Ife, Owo, Benin and the Tsoede bronzes, the richness in Nigeria's recent sculptural styles is therefore rooted in these great ancient artistic traditions.
The contemporary Nigerian masks, sculptures and textiles from various parts of the country also show a great deal of similarities not only in form but also in significance and use, Nigerian art is therefore a unifying factor bringing together the numerous ethnic groups under the same tradition and cultural umbrella.

The Gallery Part 2

African sculptural forms unlike their Western counterparts accentuated the essentials and eliminated the unnecessary, that is what gives them their uniqueness though they still portray universality in their simplicity and excellence. It is important to note that in Africa, masks and sculptures are means to an end not an end in themselves. The importance of a sculpture to an African therefore lies outside the realm of esthetics, rather it has to do with the reconciliation of his life with his environment, that is with the problems of birth,survival, well being, longevity, death and reincarnation. It is only in terms of these social and religious contexts that the motives for making them and meaning of the sculptures may be found.

More to come.
Until next time!

The Gallery

The gallery is a permanent institution dedicated to the service of society and its development, it is open to the public. It acquires,conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits for the purpose of study, education and enjoyment material evidence of man and his environment.
The gallery is intended to illustrate with examples the different types of African sculptures in terracotta, bronze,stone,clay and wood from earliest known works to those made in the last century.

Until next time