The Oyo Empire was a Yoruba empire in West Africa. It was located in present-day southern Benin and western Nigeria (including the South West zone and the western half of the North Central zone).

Currently, there are about 40 million Yoruba world-wide. The Yoruba have been living in advanced urban kingdoms for more than 1,500 years. They created a strong economy through farming, trading, and art production. Their outstanding and unique artistic traditions include woodcarving, sculpture, metal work, textiles, and beadwork.

The custom of art and artists among the Yoruba is deeply rooted in the Ifá literary corpus, indicating the orishas Ogun, Obatala, Oshun and Obalufon as central to creation mythology including artistry (i.e. the art of humanity).

researched articles on Oyo art based on art historic theory. This study, has therefore attempted a comparative studies of the Old Oyo art and the present one with a view to under-score a probable continuum in the two art traditions.

Oyo today. According to one of the arokins, or oral historians, of the palace, Captain Ross, who was the English section officer for Oyo, encouraged art work in the palace between 1915 and 1930. He might have been the catalyst for the large painted mural on the main entrance gate house (Abata Aremo) of the Afin Oyo palace.

However the good quality of Oyo art can be articulated, based on the little evidence gleaned from the remains of the Old Oyo, the oral historical account on the proficiency in art and preponderant use, and the continual art practice in the modern Oyo.

Architectural sculpture such as ornately carved wood doors and veranda posts, as well as equestrian warriors representing Ogun, the Yoruba deity of war and ironsmithing, are important aspects of Oyo art.

Mar 26, 2024 · Oyo, a pre-colonial kingdom in present-day Nigeria, was founded in the 1300s. Established by Oranmiyan of the Yoruba people of West Africa, Oyo quickly grew to become one of the most powerful states in the Yoruba-speaking region.

While Yoruba cosmology recognizes a divine creator removed from the affairs of mankind, ritual life addresses a more accessible pantheon of gods, the orisa. One such orisa is Sango, a deified former king of Oyo.

Through explication of an analytical and historical narrative research methodology, this paper will critically examine an aspect of the Oyo art, in which has to do with the art of Yoruba dressing from the Oyo alaafin case study.