Ife As A Subcommunity Of Yoruba Community In West Africa

Ife is a subcommunity of Yoruba community that is found in Nigeria and in the Republic of Benin. They are also found in other part around the world. It is rightly regarded as the corner stone of some of the greatest achievements in art and culture of Africa, combining both technical and strong aesthetic appeal to their art.
Ife community was powerful and a wealthy city state in the early centuries in west Africa. It was a center of trade that was influential interms of trade. It connected extensively with the local and long distance traders which enabled them prosper
This made the artist of Ife to be developed and highly naturalistic in their sculpture, which were made out of stone, terracotta, brass and copper which was unique at that time
Work done by the Ifes interms of art have become important symbols of national integrity and regional unity, and the identity of the pan-African an example is the "Ori Olokun" this was a head that was used in all African games held in Nigeria in the year 1973 as a logo for those games and also it has been used by different institutions of learning and financial ones and also many commercials . Since the Independence of Nigeria in 1960 the exuberance for more work from the Ife has increased with more works being excavated. The city of Ife was a settlement of some fairly large size between the 9th and 12th centuries. Ilé-Ifè is now known all over the world for its work and natural art done from bronze, stone and terracotta sculptures, this work grew to reach their epitome between 1200 and 1400 A.D. After this period their production seemed to decrease due to political and economic power change and shift to the nearby kingdom of
His head is unproportional compared to the rest of the body as the head is too big for the rest of the body covering about two-third of the whole cast, reflecting on the Yoruba community belief that the head houses the individual's essential energy and being and power. His face chest neck and the abdomen are decorated with parallel scratches and ridges for purposes of birth place identification and status.
He was wearing necklaces made up of beads and other adornment that hang on his chest and a crown with several layers with a crest made up of beads. His right arm was not there may be broken through tear and wear, but the left is full of bracelets and in the hand he holds an animal horn that is thought to have contained some powerful medicine. As it is synonymous with the Ife statues, it could have been painted, but only some small traces of red color remain on the beads and some white color on the face of the