Types of Art
Ijo are best known for their extensive production and alteration of cloth. Dress is used to signify status throughout society. They also produce wooden sculpture and memorial screens to commemorate their ancestors.
The geographic conditions of the Niger Delta region have
Types of Art
Ijo are best known for their extensive production and alteration of cloth. Dress is used to signify status throughout society. They also produce wooden sculpture and memorial screens to commemorate their ancestors.
The geographic conditions of the Niger Delta region have resulted in the Ijo being located astride trade routes throughout the region. Routes connecting them to other west African groups were established at least as early as the 15th century. In the 1600s the Ijo served as intermediary slave traders between Europeans and African groups to the north of them. Due to their central location, the Ijo have appropriated many outside ideas into their own expressive culture. This is most significantly expressed in Ijo fashion choices. In recent years many Ijo have moved to Port Harcourt in search of employment, but many of the wealthy still maintain residences in their homelands.
The Ijo rely largely upon their relati