Art as a Catalyst of Religious Development in Nigeria

Abstract

Art in Nigeria from the early Christian Missionary�s perspective was anembodiment of traditional African religion. Therefore, Nigerian art wasconsidered to be a taboo to the Christian religion, hence it should beabolished. The Islamic Jihadists on the other hand saw art as ensembles ofidolatry which must be destroyed while the traditionalists seemed to see artas the exclusive preserve of their religion, therefore, every art object shouldbe venerated. However, art is essentially a tool for the promotion of allreligions. The thrust of this paper is therefore to assess the Siameserelationship between art and religion in Nigeria irrespective of thecoloration.