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Queen Idia’s Mask and the iPhone

Form is never neutral. It is always charged with meaning. Few objects illustrate this truth more vividly than the ivory mask of Queen Idia, mother of Oba Esigie of Benin, and the iPhone, the global device of our age. At first glance, they appear worlds apart — one, a 16th-century masterpiece carved from elephant tusk, […]

06 Oct 2025 / Read more...