Art, Innovation, and Politics in Eighteenth-century Benin

Download or read book Art, Innovation, and Politics in Eighteenth-century Benin written by Paula Ben-Amos and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Benos-Amos opens for the reader richly detailed adn nuanced vistas into the intellectual and cultural history of one of the major kingdoms of precolonial West Africa." — African Studies Review "The wealth of historiographic resources, the command of relevant literature, the ethnographic research and prudent use of oral traditions give this work a high degree of... intellectual excitement.... a landmark in the field." —Warren d'Azevedo Making use of archival and oral resources in this extensively researched book, Paula Girshick Ben-Amos questions to what extent art operates as political strategy. How do objects acquire political meaning? How does the use of art enhance and embody power and authority?