The Gèlèdé: Art, Gender, and Social Harmony in an African Culture

A good majority of the books on African art are introductory surveys that, due to space limitations, can provide only brief generalizations. The religious function of the art is often emphasized at the expense of the social and aesthetic ones-which are no less important. As a result, the reader gets a distorted picture. In recent years, there has been an attempt to correct this anomaly through the publication of specialized monographs focusing on the cultural and historical ramifications of art in Africa. Some of these in-depth studies are beginning to revolutionize the scholarship of African art, forcing a drastic revision of past assumptions. African art enjoys worldwide attention today, partly because of its unique form and party because of the values it embodies for the people who created it. These values range from the use of body adornments to communicate status, achievements, or political power; to the decoration of buildings and utilitarian objects for aesthetic and prestige purposes; and to the use of sculpture to reinforce religious beliefs and social ideals. More often, because the arts have been so integrated iota daily life, it is difficult to separate the religious from the social, as bath are no more than two aspects of the same coin. Thus, a full appreciation of African art will be gained only pay serious attention to the interplay of the social, religious. This book focuses on such interplay, using as an example the Gèlèdé spectacle of the Yoruba, who are one of the largest and most prolific groups in Africa.