The late Nigerian sculptor Erhabor Emokpae is perhaps best known for his bronze replica of the sixteenth-century ivory mask of Queen Idia, the kingdom of Benin’s premier iyoba, or queen mother. The year was 1977. Nigeria had attained political independence from Britain less than two decades earlier and been through a bitter civil war in the late 1960s. Seeking to prove its stability and assert its influence on the continent, the young country hosted the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC)—at the time the largest gathering of artists from Africa and its diaspora ever convened. Emokpae’s mask, cast from a carving by the lesser-known artist Pa Joseph Alufa Obgayabona, served as the emblem of the event.

The festival’s national committee chose Queen Idia as a powerful precolonial symbol of resilience: believed by some to be the force behind the throne during her son Ésigie’s reign, she led armies to defend Benin’s sovereignty.…