York's Shona Gallery
The
Blog
Stories of the artists and peoples behind the work: the sculptors, tribes, and traditions that have shaped our collection.
The Kwele Tribe
The Kwele are a small Bantu-speaking people of the Sangha River region, straddling the border between the Republic of Congo and southeastern Gabon. Inhabitants of the dense equatorial rainforest, the...
The Bwa Tribe
The Bwa (also known as Bobo-Oulé) are a Gur-speaking people of central and western Burkina Faso and eastern Mali. They are renowned for producing some of the most dramatic and...
The Nafana Tribe
The Nafana are a small Gur-speaking people inhabiting the borderland between northwestern Ghana and northeastern Côte d'Ivoire. Despite their relatively small population, they are renowned across the...
The Guro Tribe
The Guro are a Mande-speaking people of central Côte d'Ivoire, inhabiting a forested zone between the savannah cultures to the north and the coastal cultures to the south. Renowned for...
The Mossi Tribe
The Mossi are the largest ethnic group in Burkina Faso, organising themselves around a cluster of traditional kingdoms ruled by the Mogho Naba (Emperor of the World) in Ouagadougou. Their...