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.
March 30, 2022Tribe ProfileCentral Africa
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...
August 25, 2021Tribe ProfileWest Africa
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...
April 18, 2021Tribe ProfileWest Africa
The Lobi Tribe
The Lobi are a Voltaic-speaking people of southwestern Burkina Faso and northern Ghana, inhabitants of a semi-arid savannah frontier zone. Fiercely independent and historically resistant to both neig...