Ife ( ee-feh) is now regarded as the religious heartland of the Yoruba people residing in Nigeria, the Republic of Benin and their numerous descendants across the world.
It's rightly considered the birthplace of a number of the greatest accomplishments of African culture and art, combining technical achievement with powerful aesthetic appeal.
In the 12th to the 15th centuries, Ife prospered as a strong, cosmopolitan and rich city-state in West Africa. It had been an influential center of commerce connected to extensive long-distance and local trade networks that allowed the area to flourish.
Sculpture
The artists of Ife developed a tasteful and extremely pragmatic sculptural heritage in stone, terracotta, aluminum and brass and produced a fashion unlike anything else in Africa in the moment. There are several renowned african art galleries like Paceafricanart where you can experience and get more information regarding african art.
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The technical sophistication of the casting procedure is matched with the artworks' enduring attractiveness. The individual characters reveal a broad cross-section of Ife culture and contain depictions of childhood and old age, disease and health, suffering and calmness.
Based on Yoruba myth, Ife has been the middle of the invention of earth and all humanity. Ife was home to several sacred groves found in the town's woods.
Two groves particularly have shown a lot of sculptures: the Ore Grove with its rock monoliths, animal and human characters and also the Iwinrin Grove that's connected with terra-cotta fragments and heads out of life-size figures.