Head of Obalufon. Ife, National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria.

ILE-IFE TRIUMPHS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM, LONDON: WHO SAID NIGERIANS WERE INCAPABLE OF LOOKING AFTER THEIR CULTURAL ARTEFACTS?

“A glorious display of Ife sculpture has arrived at the British Museum. Nobody — and I mean nobody — in Britain should miss it. Why? Because it changes our understanding of civilisation. Because it rewrites the story of art. Because it is a once-in-a-lifetime revolutionary event. If none of those is a big enough reason for you, then go along merely to enjoy some of the most graceful and lovely sculpture ever made. Trust me. You need to see this one. “Waldemar Januszczak (1)

By all standards, the current exhibition in the British Museum entitled, Kingdom of Ife: Sculptures from West Africa, is outstanding. (2)  This has been acknowledged by most critics and commentators. The British press is full of praises and enthusiasm. An article by Jonathan Jones, entitled, “The divine art of the Kingdom of Benin” in The Guardian bears a headline declaring: “Harmonious and humane, the sculptures of this lost African city have a greatness that any civilisation would recognise. “

The same writer states in another article in The Guardian:

 “This is an exceptional exhibition, even by the high standards the British Museum has established in recent years. It is extraordinary because it brings together such a large number of masterpieces that have rarely or never been exhibited outside Nigeria before – and when I say masterpieces, I mean artworks that rank with the Terracotta Army, the Parthenon or the mask of Tutankhamun as treasures of the human spirit.”

“What we see here is an African classical art – by which I mean an art with a strong concept of order that gives it a special authority, whether it comes from Athens, China or Ife. Like that of ancient Egypt, the art of Ife is perfect, remote, godlike and yet – as with Egypt – when you look again it is highly observational, rooted in the real life of this lost civilisation.”(3)

Michael Glover, in The Independent  declared: “At the same historical moment that Andrea del Verrocchio was doing his wonderfully painstaking, high-Renaissance drawing of a female head which can be seen elsewhere in this building, anonymous artisans in Ife were working with brass, bronze – yes, these Africans knew all about bronze casting long before the Europeans arrived to show them how – copper and terracotta to produce a series of exquisite heads that are not only the equal of Donatello in technical brilliance, but also just as naturalistic in their refinement. So much for African primitivism.” (4)

The Art Newspaper acknowledges that:
“the  impact of these extraordinarily naturalistic works continues to resonate today” (5)

Richard Dorment describes in The Telegraph   the quality of the sculptures as flabbergasting:  “This is the first show ever devoted to the sculpture of Ife anywhere in the world. The quality of the full length statues, portrait heads, ritual objects and vessels loaned by Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments is flabbergasting. What can I say? Shows like this come along once in a lifetime.” (6)

Stephen Terence Welsh, Curator of Living Cultures at The Manchester Museum has described the Ife Crowned Head, in possession of the British Museum, shown as part of the exhibition as follows:

“This exquisite brass sculpture was one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the 20th century, it revolutionised the way academics and artists interpreted Africa. It is an iconic example of Yoruba artistry and engineering."
(7)

The exhibition consists of some 100 impressive objects from Ile-Ife, the ancient spiritual city of the Yoruba in Nigeria loaned by the National Commission on Museums and Monuments of Nigeria. These outstanding objects are clear testimony to the extraordinary richness of Nigerian and African culture. Many Africans in the Diaspora, especially in Brazil, look upon Ife as their spiritual home and use the Yoruba language in their religious ceremonies that are largely based on Yoruba traditions.

It seems every generation of Westerners has to “discover” the extraordinary beauty and sophistication of African culture even though Europe and Africa have been in contact, at the latest, since 15th century when the Portuguese sailed along the West Coast of Africa. It is true though that since then much of the relations between the two neighbouring continents has been taken up with the nefarious Slave Trade and the hateful racist colonialism. These two determining factors do not make for honest appreciation of the arts of Africa. Obviously, if you are going to enslave a people and exploit their resources, both human and natural, you are not tempted to praise the technical sophistication of their arts or the excellence of their craftsmen. Thus in all areas of culture  Africans have been depicted as primitive and savage by Westerners who should have recognized at first glance that the achievements of the African peoples compare very well with those of others, including those of the Romans and the Greeks which are held in highest esteem by Westerners. Instead the label “primitive” has been attached to all things African - language, religion, music, dance and art.  Westerners have denied to Africans the basic qualities that make us human: ability to express ourselves and reflect on our environment. This negation results in subsequent frequent astonishment that our arts are as good as those from other parts of the world. Ironically, many who proclaim we are primitive and that our arts are to be put in a different category from those of the rest of humankind have been very busy stealing and looting our artefacts.  Thus, there is hardly a respectable museum in the Western world that does not have many African artefacts, the best having been stolen in the colonial days.

Download and read the entire reflection below