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Article: Contemporary Vodun arts of Ouidah, Benin.
- Article from:
- African Arts
- Article date:
- December 22, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 The Regents of the University of California. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The contemporary Vodun arts of the city of Ouidah in the Republic of Benin are a testament to the strength and flexibility of a belief system that is perpetually inventing, reinventing, and modifying itself. Their embodying aesthetic reflects remarkable adherence to traditional themes and structures that concurrently celebrate conspicuous signs of change. In the constant negotiation between ideologies that are old and new, local and distant, the artificial boundaries between "traditional" and "contemporary" Vodun arts are dissolved, merged, and transcended. It is precisely the ever-changing, all-encompassing nature of Vodun that allows this transcendence. (1)
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