The Fon, who are the largest ethnic group in the Republic of Benin in West Africa, established the powerful kingdom of Dahomey in the early seventeenth century. In their capital city of Abomey, they built a remarkable complex of palaces, featuring walls decorated with colorful low-relief sculptures, or bas-reliefs, which recount legends and battles and glorify the history of their royal dynasty's reign. Over the centuries, these visual stories have represented and perpetuated the history and myths of the Fon people. Palace Sculptures of Abomey combines lavish color photographs of the...
The Fon, who are the largest ethnic group in the Republic of Benin in West Africa, established the powerful kingdom of Dahomey in the early seventeent...
For millennia, people of all cultures have decorated the surfaces of their domestic, religious, and public buildings. Earthen architecture in particular has been, and continues to be, a common ground for surface decoration such as paintings, sculpted bas-relief, and ornamental plasterwork. This volume explores the complex issues associated with preserving these surfaces. Case studies from Asia, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas are presented. The publication is the result of a colloquium held in 2004 at Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, co-organized by the...
For millennia, people of all cultures have decorated the surfaces of their domestic, religious, and public buildings. Earthen architecture in particul...
Earthen architecture constitutes one of the most diverse forms of cultural heritage and one of the most challenging to preserve. It dates from all periods and is found on all continents but is particularly prevalent in Africa, where it has been a building tradition for centuries. Sites range from ancestral cities in Mali to the palaces of Abomey in Benin; from monuments and mosques in Iran and Buddhist temples on the Silk Road to Spanish missions in California.
This volume's sixty-four papers address such themes as earthen architecture in Mali, the conservation of living sites,...
Earthen architecture constitutes one of the most diverse forms of cultural heritage and one of the most challenging to preserve. It dates from all ...
