Art, Innovation, and Politics in Eighteenth-Century Benin

Author/Contributor(s):	Ben-Amos, Paula G
Publisher:	Indiana University Press
Date:	08/22/1999
Binding:	Hardcover
Condition:	NEW

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?