Festivals and Films

Kingdom of Ife. Sculptures from West Africa.

From 03 Mar 2010 to 05 Jun 2010

4 March-6 June 2010. Twelve of the Ife heads and one half-length figure are on display, along with brass, copper, stone and terracotta sculpture from West Africa.

The Kingdom of Ife corresponds roughly to modern day southwest Nigeria, home of the Yoruba. It was a prosperous city-state and flourished as a spiritual and economic centre, as well as a centre of a powerful trading network, in the 12-15th centuries AD. The Ife heads, which were discovered from the early to mid-20th century, have a checkered history; some disappeared, some were stolen and one was sold by the editor of Nigeria