The oral heritage of Gelede
Masks, dances and chants in Yoruba that honour mothers, from the Yoruba-Nago of Benin, Nigeria and Togo.
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Ifa: the verses of the Yoruba divination system
A vast oral literature of 256 odu and their verses, kept by babalawo priests in Nigeria and the diaspora.
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Adìyẹ àti Ọ̀ọ̀kùn (Chicken and Millipede), in Yoruba
Two rivals, a football match and the start of an old enmity, told in Yoruba.
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Mitsitsin Iri: Labarin Wangari Maathai (A Tiny Seed), in Hausa
The life of Wangari Maathai, from a girl on the slopes of Mount Kenya to the woman who inspired millions of trees, told in Hausa.
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Mbuk Adama Idiok Awan: an Ibibio folktale (podcast)
An episode of Mbaganire, an African folktales podcast: a story of jealousy and justice, told in Ibibio.
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The Benin Bronzes
The ‘Benin Bronzes’ are plaques, commemorative heads, figures and regalia made from at least the 1500s by a specialist guild working for the Oba (king) of Benin in Benin City. Benin City, the capital of the historic Kingdom of Benin, is today in Edo State, Nigeria; it is not in the present-day Republic of Benin. Many pieces were looted during the British expedition to Benin City in 1897. Their ownership and return are contested; the British Museum alone holds over 900 objects from the kingdom.