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This statue is an amazing piece of artwork that portrays a hornblower that was produced in the kingdom of Benin in Nigeria.  Hornblowers formed part of the entourage of the Oba (King) of Benin and acted as heralds announcing his presence at royal ceremonies. They typically used side-blown horns made of ivory. In the late […]

Chieftaincy is one of Ghana’s oldest traditional institutions. It had remained resilient despite attempts by both colonial and post-independent governments to control and undermine it. The Chieftaincy Institution in Ghana is a system that structures and regulates the activity of the community by a head of a tribe or clan in Ghanaian society.  The chiefs […]

Kente is the best known and most widely appreciated of all African textiles, adopted throughout the African diaspora worldwide since the 1960’s as a symbol of Pan-Africanism and Afrocentric identity. Today, let us educate ourselves on the wonderful colors of the kente cloth and their significance!!! The vibrant colorful weavings of the Kente cloth carry […]

These hand-loomed weavings, embellished with hand-stitched geometric embroidery, are created by the nomadic Tuareg people of North Africa’s Sahara Desert.  Woven with reed fiber, the traditional mats were designed to roll into a slender cylinder for portability.  The Tuareg are an ethnic group found in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and Senegal. Although most Tuareg […]

Today, Amba Gallery presents to you these wonderful female sculptures from Baoule tribe in Cote d’Ivoire!! These beautiful life-size wooden sculptures represent the beauty of African women. The African woman is seen as beautiful with her brown or black skin complementing every color she wears. She is also seen as tough, hardworking, loyal, and naturally maternal. […]

Amba Gallery showcases these amazing elaborately embellished Fontomfrom drums!!  There are a large variety of drums in Ghana and the Fontomfrom represents a cultural tradition. This is because of its imposing size and symbolic appearance, as well as the musicality of its sound. The Fontomfrom is an Akan type of talking drum, fashioned after the […]

Today, Amba gallery brings to you the significance of the traditional Ghanaian stool from the perspective of the largest ethnic group in Ghana (Akans). Among the Akans, the stool is used as a household object and in rites of passage and is considered sacred. The stool is used as a symbol of chieftaincy on special […]

Motherhood is a recurring theme in African art. The symbolism is always the same, whether the child is carried on the back, in the arms, breastfeeding, or resting on the knees.  The divination of “mother and child” is important in African art and is often explored in figurative sculptures that express concerns for motherhood, fertility, […]

These wooden fish sculptures are made by hand in Ségou (Mali) where the Bozo, an ethnic group living on the banks of the Niger River, use them as puppets in water rituals and various social events. The Bozo Tribe are people from the kingdom of Ghana (Ghana Empire) who settled in Mali around the 10th […]

These small 19th century Yoruba ornamental masks are called “omama.” They are decorative elements of an Orufanran (ceremonial costume worn by high-ranking Owo chiefs) from Yoruba in Nigeria as a privilege granted by the king (Olowo).Consisting of a bulky coat or shirt covered in red flannel scales, the orufanran was studded with ivory images of […]