SIGNIFICANCE OF WOMEN’S COMMEMORATION IN BENIN COURT ARTS AND MONUMENTS, 1504 – 1897

Abstract

This study discusses the significance of women’s commemoration in Benin court arts and monuments. Benin Kingdom exemplified a sophisticated socio-political economy. Undoubtedly, women’s roles in the evolution of the Benin political culture are remarkable. Non royal women in Benin were not memorialized in court arts. The commemoration of women in court arts was only peculiar to royal women. The purpose of this study therefore, is to identify prerogatives for such distinction in Benin arts. The study also aims to examine cultural markers that distinguished royal prerogatives elevating the queen mother to appearances, commemoration and even immortalization in Benin court arts. The study is qualitative, and it employed the use of primary sources which comprised of oral information from individual interviews. Secondary sources used include books and journal articles. The study is both descriptive and analytic in its approach. The study identified that, the subtly muted and quite often mistaken representation of the queen mother for a male in Benin court arts, exemplified and amplified her royal personage and hierarchy, rather than her personage of womanhood. The study also showed that the portrayal of women in Benin court arts and monuments is a reflection of women’s importance and contributions to Benin art, which in itself is an embodiment of Benin cultural heritage and history.