Art Innovation and Politics in Eighteenth-Century Benin

<p>Benos-Amos opens for the reader richly detailed adn nuanced vistas into the intellectual and cultural history of one of the major kingdoms of precolonial West Africa. -- African Studies Review<br /><br />The wealth of historiographic resources the command of relevant literature the ethnographic research and prudent use of oral traditions give this work a high degree of . . . intellectual excitement. . . . a landmark in the field. --Warren d'Azevedo<br /><br />Making use of archival and oral resources in this extensively researched book Paula Girshick Ben-Amos questions to what extent art operates as political strategy. How do objects acquire political meaning? How does the use of art enhance and embody power and authority?</p>