Arts + Culture
The return of Dahomey’s 26 royal treasures: France’s 2021 restitution to Benin
In November 2021, France returned 26 royal treasures looted from Abomey in 1892 to the Republic of Benin.…
Arts + Culture
Dive into a world of boundless creativity and diverse perspectives with our Arts + Culture corner. Explore the latest in visual arts, literature, and cultural trends
Arts + Culture
Asante gold returns to Kumasi: the 2024 loan of looted royal treasures
In 2024, 32 gold and silver objects taken from the Asante court during British colonial wars went on…
Arts + Culture
The Great Mosque of Djenné: the mud building a whole town replasters every year
The Great Mosque of Djenné in Mali is the largest mud-brick building in the world. Its current structure…
Arts + Culture
The Royal Palaces of Abomey: the bas-reliefs of the Dahomey kings
The Royal Palaces of Abomey in Benin were the seat of the kings of Dahomey from the seventeenth…
Arts + Culture
The Igbo-Ukwu bronzes: West Africa’s oldest known bronze art, found by a man digging a cistern
In 1938, a man digging a water cistern in Igbo-Ukwu, in today's Anambra State, found bronze objects of…
Arts + Culture
The Kofar Mata dye pits: Kano’s centuries-old indigo tradition
The Kofar Mata dye pits in Kano are among the oldest working dye pits in Africa, with tradition…
Arts + Culture
Shona sculpture: how Zimbabwe’s stone carvers won international acclaim
From the late 1950s, artists in Zimbabwe began carving serpentine and other stones into expressive sculptures that drew…
Arts + Culture
The Agadez cross: the Tuareg silver pendant handed from father to son
The Agadez cross is the best known of a family of Tuareg silver pendants, each linked to a…
Arts + Culture
Egungun: the Yoruba masquerade where the ancestors return to dance
Egungun masquerades bring Yoruba ancestors back among the living. Dancers in layered cloth costumes that cover the entire…
Arts + Culture
Gelede: the Yoruba masquerade that honours the power of mothers
Gelede is a masquerade of the Yoruba and Yoruba-Nago peoples of Benin, Nigeria and Togo that honours mothers,…