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Stories

  • Article

Mask, ritual and fertility

Today many of us learn about fertility, conception and pregnancy online. But that wasn’t always the way. Discover how masks and rituals played an important educational role.

  • Article

Colonialism and the origins of skin bleaching

The widespread practice of skin bleaching was heavily influenced by the Western colonisation and slavery of African and South Asian countries. Ngunan Adamu explores this toxic history.

  • Long read

Healthy scepticism

Healthcare sceptics – like those opposed to Covid-19 vaccinations – often have serious, nuanced reasons for doubting medical authorities.

  • Interview

Meet the climate emergency

Find out what led Yinka Shonibare to create the compelling artwork ‘Refugee Astronaut’.

All stories (4)

Images

  • Ibedgi female figure with long strings of cowrie shells attached. Yoruba, Nigeria, West Africa.
  • Ibedgi female figure with long strings of cowrie shells attached. Yoruba, Nigeria, West Africa.
  • Yoruba Ibedji (effigies) representing dead twins, Nigeria, West Africa. Some Yoruba tribes revere twins, who are thought to bring luck to household and tribe. The death of one is a great calamity. A wooden figure, called Ibedji, is made to house the spirit of the dead child and be a companion for the surviving twin. The Ibedji figure becomes a cult-object in the family and the mother tends it, offers it food and decks it with beads, cowrie shells, red camwood and other adornments.
  • V. Ramakrishna. Photograph by L.J. Bruce-Chwatt.
  • Bronze Benin head, Nigeria
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Catalogue

All works (161)