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Oct
15
2023
By BRIGHT EMWANTA IGBINOMWANHIA, BIRD STORY AGENCY
Why traditional carving will never die in Benin

Why traditional carving will never die in Benin

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
ON the bustling 25\ 27 Igbesanmwan Street in Benin City, Southern Nigeria, a small white shop with rusty corrugated metal roofing stands between similar rundown buildings. Despite its dilapidated appearance, the Emma O Carving Depot, owned by Emanuel Osifo, holds a remarkable collection of historical artefacts. The store showcases various bronze and wood pieces, such as masks, medals, tools, plaques and sculptures of varying sizes and colours. While some are new, other older pieces are evidence of an ancient tradition. A common belief in Benin City is that certain families have a genetic inclination for sculptural art. The case of…
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Jul
03
2022
By VICTOR EYIKE, BIRD STORY AGENCY
Nearly 800 years later, the fires of the Benin Bronze casters still blaze

Nearly 800 years later, the fires of the Benin Bronze casters still blaze

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
STANDING in Igun street, the centre of African bronze casting for the past ten centuries, Alex Agbonmwenre could tell a story about the British forces that razed Edo and destroyed the Benin Empire, carrying off the famous bronze figures made for the court hundreds of years before, in this very street. But as a bronze caster, he is focused on the story of the craft itself. And his story starts way before the arrival of the first Europeans in this part of the world. It begins with a skilled artisan arriving at a walled, well-organised city in around 1280, during…
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