Beninese artists

Benin is the home of the kingdom of Dahomey, whose royal artists in Abomey made appliqué cloths, brass figures and painted bas-reliefs telling the history of the kings, and of the Vodun religion, whose shrines and objects still inspire artists today. Cyprien Tokoudagba, who restored the Abomey palace reliefs, painted the Vodun gods on shrines and canvases, and the Dakpogan brothers of Porto-Novo, from a family of royal blacksmiths, weld figures from recycled car parts.

Benin's contemporary artists have reached the world's great exhibitions. Romuald Hazoumè makes masks from petrol cans and built La Bouche du Roi for the British Museum; Georges Adéagbo arranges found objects and texts into vast installations; Meschac Gaba created a Museum of Contemporary African Art now owned by Tate; Dominique Zinkpè paints and sculpts, and Léonce Raphaël Agbodjelou photographs Porto-Novo. The Fondation Zinsou in Cotonou has brought contemporary art to a wide local public. These are Benin's artists with Wikipedia articles, most looked-up first. See also West Africa.