Music from
Central Africa

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"Mutomboko" and "Luwendo"
Xylophones
Courtesy International Library of African Music, Rhodes University, South Africa

Court music performed in praise of a Luba chief

Pictured above

Female figure (kosi)
Lumbo peoples, Gabon
Early 20th century
Wood, leopard's teeth, copper alloy, pigment
H. 42.1 cm (16 4/16 in.)
National Museum of African Art, gift of Lawrence Gussman in memory of Dr. Albert Schweitzer, 98-15-3

Female figures called kosi were sculpted by the Punu and neighboring Lumbo peoples to harness the power of a spirit believed to reside within the sculpture itself. Ritual specialists then used the kosi to exact retribution on behalf of a wronged client. Exemplifying regional ideals of beauty, the figures have a calm, composed expression and carefully carved details of scarification and hairstyle. The figure's beauty was considered to be a baited trap for wrongdoers who, once identified, were afflicted with sickness by the kosi.

Traditionally in African beliefs, all problems, from illness to theft or poor hunting, are thought to have a spiritual or non-physical cause and require the guidance of the ancestors and protective beings. To resolve the small troubles and questions of daily life, people rely on their own abilities or they discuss their situation with family and friends. People generally consult ritual specialists before making serious life choices or when seeking the cause of an illness or crime. Similarly, a community leader can ask for spiritual guidance when dealing with the threat of war or an epidemic. The work of a ritual specialist often combines divination (the calling of supernatural forces), herbal medicine, judicial procedures, and psychology.

Luba diviners prepare their divination implements with medicinal leaves and invoke the spirits of the dead. Questions are answered as the spirits move the implement held by the diviner and the client. The work of the Kongo ritual specialist also features a strong element of public performance, including music from whistles, slit gongs, and bells.

Carved figures serve as focal points in public ceremonies or personal invocations. The Kongo dog, for example, refers to the ritual specialist's hunt for those who harm others. Human figures do not depict specific people but often include indicators of ethnicity or status, such as scarification, hairstyles, and beards commonly worn by elders. The power of the figure is activated when it becomes a container for special substances or medicines that the ritual specialist applies or inserts. These medicines may be true herbal remedies, but they often derive their effectiveness from symbol and metaphor, such as earth from a special grave or plant material whose name is a verbal or visual play on words. The breath (life force) of an individual is also an active ingredient in creating carved figures that embody spiritual power.

Pictured above (from top to bottom)

Figure (nkisi)
Bembe peoples, Republic of the Congo and Democratic Republic of the Congo
Late 19th-early 20th century
Wood, feathers, hide, textile, fiber, mirror, ceramic, hair
H. 73 cm (16 15/16 in.) National Museum of African Art, gift of Lawrence Gussman in memory of Dr. Albert Schweitzer, 98-15-10

For more information on this object visit the Beneath the Surface page that illustrates how it was researched.

Dog figure (nkisi kozo)
Kongo peoples, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Late 19th-early 20th century
Wood, resin, mirror, ceramic
H. 7.8 cm (3 1/16 in.)
National Museum of African Art, gift of Lawrence Gussman in memory of Dr. Albert Schweitzer, 98-15-8

Among the Kongo and Bembe peoples, ritual specialists, called nganga, prepared containers (nkisi, plural minkisi) often in the form of figures that were used to cure and protect or as part of judicial procedures. Empowering substances or "medicines" were placed in the mirror-covered boxes attached to these figures. Carved bells were part of the public invocations of spiritual forces by the nganga.

Reliquary Guardian Figures | Masks of Gabon and the Congo | Status and Power | Divination and Spiritual Power | Figurative Sculpture | Beneath the Surface

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