Royal Arts of Africa : The Majesty of Form (Paperback)

Royal Arts Of Africa
This timely and topical book explores the diverse ways in which African rulers have employed art and architecture to define individual and state identity from the sixteenth century to the late twentieth. The arts of selected kingdoms from West and Central Africa are dealt with in the context of their own cultures as well as in relation to the impact of European trade and colonialism. In her descriptions and subtle cultural reading of a vast range of individual objects Suzanne Blier raises issues that go beyond the particular to more general questions of royal and dynastic art. Palace architecture, royal regalia and ceremonies, women of the court, divine kingship, state cosmology, dynastic history, and the importance of art in diplomacy and war are among the topics to receive compelling discussion.