Pokia Family

Biography:

The Pokia Family is a lineage of artisans from the eastern part of the river Niger's delta in Nigeria. This region was central to the African trade with Europeans, in which Kalabari traders played a strategic role for nearly five centuries. The family is known for creating the 'Ancestral Screen' in the 19th century AD, a ritual object made of wood, wicker, pigment, and iron. The screen is attributed to the Pokia family atelier of Ifoko and is considered to be a late 19th-early 20th century creation of the Kalabari Ijo peoples from the town of Abonnema.