Nkondi figure is probably one of the coolers African art works that i like. It involves the belief of putting together materials that allows ritual specialists to summon the powers of the dead and use them to serve the living. Freaking badass! The nkondi figure is actual a figure of a hunter. It's used to summon the powers of a dead hunter warrior to hunt down and punish witches and wrongdoers. Just by looking at the Sculpture you can tell that it is a warrior. If anything it looks like a ferocious demon. you cant really see the arms or legs. It's almost as if the arms and legs are wrapped together and sealed so as to keep the dead hunters powers under control. It seems like if we let the hunters legs and arms free, it would unleash its wrath and those who summoned him for possibly ruining the balance of nature or something. The sculpture is pretty fierce and it actually looks scary. It could be a symbol of fear to all wrongdoers and a symbol of salvation to all victims.
The next piece i wanted to talk about is the Gwandasu display figure. In the display we have a large scupture of a woman and she is holding a small baby on her stomach as the baby clings on to the mother. The book says that this sculpture is made to help women who have trouble conceiving, bearing, or rearing children. The baby is carved into the form of the mother to possibly symbolize that the baby may have come from the mother. However, it could also be possible that it is carved into the form to show maybe what is inside the mother. The breasts are made big to show great promise of producing nourishing milk. Furthermore, the book describes the cap that is on the mothers head. It says that the caps are only worn by powerful male hunters or sorcerers. Maybe the cap could be used to symbolize the woman's ability to draw in energy needed to make a baby. Or to draw in a seed. If anything the cap could be a symbol to should that the woman is strong enough to have and take care of a baby.
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