 Museum facade in 2013 | |
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| Established | 1954 |
|---|---|
| Location | Near to Ooni's Palace, Enuwa Area, Central Ile-Ife, Nigeria |
| Coordinates | 7°28′58″N4°33′35″E / 7.482654°N 4.559859°E |
| Type | Ethnographic and Archeological Museum |
The Ife National Museum is a museum located in Osun State, Nigeria. The museum exhibits objects from ancient Ife, some of these objects are made of terracotta or bronze. [1] The museum is administered by the National Commission for Museums and Monuments of Nigeria. [2]
The museum is in a circular building of colonial architecture that was built in 1948. [3] The museum was opened to the public in 1954. [4] Some of the museum's artifacts were stolen between April 1993 and November 1994. [5] Among the objects that were stolen from the museum were three terracotta heads, which were recovered in France and returned to Nigeria in 1996. [6] In 1938, a carved portrait heads were found, these were created by the Yoruba people, most of these artifacts were exhibited in the museum, although some were taken out of Nigeria, this caused that the Nigerian government imposed a stricter control with respect to the antiquities. [7]
The museum contains archaeological collections, such as metal objects and human remains. The museum also contains ethnographic objects such as traditional clothing and leather bags. [8] The museum contains stone sculptures and terracotta heads. [9] Parts of the museum's sculptures date back to the 13th century. The museum contains a collection of brass heads from Ife, which were unearthed in 1938. The museum has juju items, spiritual belief system incorporating objects used in West Africa. [3] The museum contains Gẹlẹdẹ masks, these were found during 1954, around Ife. [10] Among the artifacts that the museum has are traditional objects used by the Yoruba people in daily life, such as cushions called Timutimus, native fans called Abebes, scabbards called Ako, earthenware pots, knives, shoes, in addition to native medicine belts. (Igbadi). Some of the heads made of wood and bronze have their mouths gagged, according to the ethnographer, Mathew Ogunmola, this would represent the slaves who were killed in different sanctuaries. [11]
African art describes the modern and historical paintings, sculptures, installations, and other visual culture from native or indigenous Africans and the African continent. The definition may also include the art of the African diasporas, such as: African-American, Caribbean or art in South American societies inspired by African traditions. Despite this diversity, there are unifying artistic themes present when considering the totality of the visual culture from the continent of Africa.
Ifẹ̀ is an ancient Yoruba city in south-western Nigeria, founded in the 6th century. The city is located in present-day Osun State. Ifẹ̀ is about 218 kilometers northeast of Lagos with a population of over 500,000 people, which is the highest in Osun State according to population census of 2006.
The Benin Bronzes are a group of several thousand metal plaques and sculptures that decorated the royal palace of the Kingdom of Benin, in what is now Edo State, Nigeria. Collectively, the objects form the best examples of Benin art and were created from the fourteenth century by artists of the Edo people. The plaques, which in the Edo language are called Ama, depict scenes or represent themes in the history of the kingdom. Apart from the plaques, other sculptures in brass or bronze include portrait heads, jewelry, and smaller pieces.
The Nok culture is a population whose material remains are named after the Ham village of Nok in southern Kaduna State of Nigeria, where their terracotta sculptures were first discovered in 1928. The Nok people and the Gajiganna people may have migrated from the Central Sahara, along with pearl millet and pottery, diverged prior to arriving in the northern region of Nigeria, and thus, settled in their respective locations in the region of Gajiganna and Nok. Nok people may have also migrated from the West African Sahel to the region of Nok. Nok culture may have emerged in 1500 BCE and continued to persist until 1 BCE.
Owo is a local government area in Ondo state, Nigeria. Between 1400 and 1600 CE, it was the capital of a Yoruba city-state. The local government area has a population of 222,262 based on 2006 population census.
The National Museum of Ghana is in the Ghanaian capital, Accra. It is the largest and oldest of the six museums under the administration of the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board (GMMB).
Most African sculpture was historically in wood and other organic materials that have not survived from earlier than at most a few centuries ago; older pottery figures are found from a number of areas. Masks are important elements in the art of many peoples, along with human figures, often highly stylized. There is a vast variety of styles, often varying within the same context of origin depending on the use of the object, but wide regional trends are apparent; sculpture is most common among "groups of settled cultivators in the areas drained by the Niger and Congo rivers" in West Africa. Direct images of African deities are relatively infrequent, but masks in particular are or were often made for traditional African religious ceremonies; today many are made for tourists as "airport art". African masks were an influence on European Modernist art, which was inspired by their lack of concern for naturalistic depiction.
The history of Nigeria before 1500 has been divided into its prehistory, Iron Age, and flourishing of its kingdoms and states. Acheulean tool-using archaic humans may have dwelled throughout West Africa since at least between 780,000 BP and 126,000 BP. Middle Stone Age West Africans likely dwelled continuously in West Africa between MIS 4 and MIS 2, and Iwo Eleru people persisted at Iwo Eleru as late as 13,000 BP. West African hunter-gatherers occupied western Central Africa earlier than 32,000 BP, dwelled throughout coastal West Africa by 12,000 BP, and migrated northward between 12,000 BP and 8000 BP as far as Mali, Burkina Faso, and Mauritania. The Dufuna canoe, a dugout canoe found in northern Nigeria has been dated to around 6556-6388 BCE and 6164-6005 BCE, making it the oldest known boat in Africa and the second oldest worldwide.
The Yoruba of West Africa are responsible for a distinct artistic tradition in Africa, a tradition that remains vital and influential today.
The Nigerian National Museum is a national museum of Nigeria, located in the city of Lagos. The museum has a notable collection of Nigerian art, including pieces of statuary, carvings also archaeological and ethnographic exhibits. Of note is a terracotta human head known as the Jemaa Head, part of the Nok culture. The piece is named after Jema'a, the village where it was discovered. The museum is located at Onikan, Lagos Island, Lagos State. The museum is administered by the National Commission for Museums and Monuments.
Jos Museum is a museum in Jos, Nigeria. The museum was established in 1952 by Bernard Fagg.
Some African objects had been collected by Europeans for centuries, and there had been industries producing some types, especially carvings in ivory, for European markets in some coastal regions. Between 1890 and 1918 the volume of objects greatly increased as Western colonial expansion in Africa led to the removal of many pieces of sub-Saharan African art that were subsequently brought to Europe and displayed. These objects entered the collections of natural history museums, art museums and private collections in Europe and the United States. About 90% of Africa's cultural heritage is believed to be located in Europe, according to French art historians.
The Bronze Head from Ife, or Ife Head, is one of eighteen copper alloy sculptures that were unearthed in 1938 at Ife in Nigeria, the religious and former royal centre of the Yoruba people. It is believed to represent a king. It was probably made in the fourteenth-fifteenth century C.E. The realism and sophisticated craftsmanship of the objects challenged the offensive and patronising Western conceptions of African art. The naturalistic features of the Ife heads are unique and the stylistic similarities of these works "suggest that they were made by an individual artist or in a single workshop."
The archaeology of Igbo-Ukwu is the study of an archaeological site located in a town of the same name: Igbo-Ukwu, an Igbo town in Anambra State in southeastern Nigeria. As a result of these findings, three excavation areas at Igbo-Ukwu were opened in 1959 and 1964 by Charles Thurstan Shaw: Igbo Richard, Igbo Isaiah, and Igbo Jonah. Excavations revealed more than 700 high quality artifacts of copper, bronze and iron, as well as about 165,000 glass, carnelian and stone beads, pottery, textiles and ivory beads, cups, and horns. The bronzes include numerous ritual vessels, pendants, crowns, breastplates, staff ornaments, swords, and fly-whisk handles.
Aydın Archaeological Museum is in Aydın, western Turkey. Established in 1959, it contains numerous statues, tombs, columns and stone carvings from the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk and Ottoman periods, unearthed in ancient cities such as Alinda, Alabanda, Amyzon, Harpasa, Magnesia on the Maeander, Mastaura, Myus, Nisa, Orthosia, Piginda, Pygela and Tralleis. The museum also has a section devoted to ancient coin finds.
Konya Archaeological Museum is a state archaeological museum in Konya, Turkey. Established in 1901, it had been relocated twice before moving to its present location in 1962. One of the most prominent displays in the museum is of sarcophagi and other antiquities from the ancient city of Çatalhöyük. Other exhibits relate to the Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Classical, Hellenistic, Roman and the Byzantine periods; artifacts consist of ceramic ware, stone and bronze wares, ornaments and inscriptions. Among the objects displayed is a marble sarcophagus of the 3rd century AD, with elaborate relief sculptures depicting the life of Hercules. In the outer open yard of the museum there are a number of small sculptures, sarcophagi, column capitals, and samples of epigraphy.
The Fourth German Inner Africa Research Expedition was carried out in Nigeria and Cameroon between 1910 and 1912 under the leadership of ethnographer Leo Frobenius. Frobenius carried out archaeological excavations at the ancient Yoruba city of Ife in Nigeria and published his findings in twelve volumes between 1921 and 1928. Frobenius theorised that the intricate bronze and terracotta sculptures he discovered at Ife were relics from the mythological city of Atlantis. However, later research has shown them to be the work of 12th-15th century AD Yoruba craftsmen.
The Ibadan National Museum of Unity is an ethnographic museum in Aleshinloye Ibadan, Nigeria. The museum is dedicated to the culture of the different ethnic groups of Nigeria.
The Yemisi Shyllon Museum of Art is a privately-owned museum located on the main campus of the Pan-Atlantic University in Lagos State, Nigeria.
The Ife Empire was the first empire in Yoruba history. It was founded in what is now southwestern Nigeria and eastern Benin. The Ife Empire lasted from 1200 to 1420. The empire was formed by Odùduwà, and became well-known for its sophisticated art pieces. Although Yoruba was the main language of the empire, there were also various spoken dialects and languages. It rose to power through trade with Sahelian and forest states. Its capital city, Ilé-Ife, was one of the largest urban centers in 14th century West Africa.
