Arts at the Service of the Nation in Southern Benin after the 2021 Restitution - Melda Demir скачать в хорошем качестве

Arts at the Service of the Nation in Southern Benin after the 2021 Restitution - Melda Demir

Since the restitution of the Dahomey artifacts, the art scene in the coastal cities of the Republic of Benin has experienced a significant rise in aesthetic trends shaped by a nationalist agenda and supported by both the current government and key actors within the local art market. Based on several months of ethnographic research, I will demonstrate that this development is marked by the strategic appropriation of feminist figures from pre-colonial history and the normative exclusivity imposed by art institutions and the government in defining what is considered authentically béninois(e). I will conclude my analysis with a critical examination of the economic value ascribed to the concept of the nation. In the second part of my lecture, I will present additional insights that have emerged from my study and may be relevant to a future project.