The world is like a beanstalk: Historicizing potting practice and social relations in the Niger River area

Abstract

Using ethnographical data collected in Niger and Northern Benin between 2002 and 2014, I will retrace the historical trajectory of a pottery style that developed along the Niger River since the end of the 19th century. Spreading irrespectively of major social boundaries such as language or ethnic affiliation, it is nevertheless deeply connected with the history of particular social groups. We will show how changing social relations within craft practice as well as the spatial embeddedness of learning networks arose from both historical and ecological factors, and how these combined to channel the diffusion of a new aesthetics throughout the Niger Valley and in more remote areas.

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Stored copy: other-oa · source http://hdl.handle.net/2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/186322. Open access only — a takedown request can remove the copy without touching this record.

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