African Art: The Ile-Ori, The Hat of the Avlekte Ouidah, and The Kongo Crucifix

African Art and Intercultural Exchange
Art depicts the cultural views, practices, and beliefs of a people. Lorand Matory suggests that intercultural exchanges profoundly influence art because people use their artwork to communicate their ideas and interact with other cultures. This paper analyzes three different pieces of art from the Kingdom of Kongo(Congo Republic), Yorubaland (in Nigeria) and Ouidah (Benin) to determine whether or not Matory’s theory of the influence of culture on art is valid. Cultural exchanges profoundly impacted art in Nigeria, Congo and Benin.
The Ile-Ori (House of Ori)
The Ile-Ori plays a significant role in Yoruba art and aesthetics due to its physical presentation and meaning. The art consists of a lidded openwork structure made of leather and covered with cowrie shells arranged on the structure and attached to the leather using fibre. The Ile-Ori also consists has a circular cap that connects the four pillars supporting its structure. The Yoruba people consider the Ile-Ori as one of the most relevant spiritual artefacts that actively represent human realms of ase in their culture. The concept of ase is an effective and enigmatic and effective phenomenon in Yoruba culture and art that connects Africa to the New world including the US, the Caribbean islands and Brazil. The Ile-Ori is meant to honour and celebrate the head because the people of Yoruba believed that the head had the power to influence one’s decisions and fate. The purpose of the House of Ori is fulfilled by wearing the artefact on the head.
The House of Ori demonstrates that Yorubaland had intercultural exchanges with the Europeans and the New World through the Trans-Atlantic trade. Matory argues that intercultural exchange and geographical isolation profoundly impact art and culture. In Yorubaland, the cowrie shell was utilized as a medium of exchange and an imported commodity valued by the community. They also symbolized a sense of individual achievements of the bearers. The Ile-Ori was influenced by the intercultural interactions of the Yoruba natives and Trans-Atlantic traders because it is made of imported cowrie shells and locally sourced fibre and leather. The Ile-Ori was worn during public ceremonies, dances and ritual performances to demonstrate the sacredness of the events. The packed arrangement of cowrie shells on the Ile-Ori symbolizes the significance of the head in planning, identity and personal quest for greatness.
The Hat of the Avlekte Ouidah (Vodun Art of Benin City)
The hat of the Avlekte Ouidah of Benin City depends on the concept of incompleteness and continuity and sustained relevance of artwork. The development of the hat of the Avlekte Ouidah is motivated by the need for transformation, transformation and fluctuation. The Vodun art has images that are developed using tiny multicoloured beads attached to the hat’s surface and a chromolithograph image depicting Mater Dolorosa, the Haitian spirit of love. The features of the hat of the Avlekte Ouidah art show that the people of the Coastal city of Benin had actively interacted with the Caribbean cultures and engaged in intercultural exchanges. Evidence from the art supports Matory’s theory that art responds to intercultu...