Kuyu. Visions of Africa.
Five Continents Editions| N° d'inventaire | 25068 |
| Format | 16.5 x 24 |
| Détails | 124 p., 35 color illustrations, paperback. |
| Publication | Milan, 2021 |
| Etat | Nine |
| ISBN | 9788874399147 |
Visions of Africa
The Kuyu ethnic group lives in the northern part of the Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville), on the banks of the Congo River, in an area of equatorial Africa that has remained free from Muslim influence and Western colonization. While the Kuyu initially played a predominant role, they later became a minority within the Mbochi population.
The objects that are part of their material culture have long remained unknown, because they do not conform to the expectations of the Western public, primarily interested in aesthetics.
The aesthetic expression of the Kuyu is divided into three styles; the first two, of which we have a limited number of testimonies, are closely linked to the Kuyu ethnic group, while the third style, to which most of the sculptures belong, includes Kuyu and Mbochi objects. This production includes statuettes and especially anthropocephalic wooden maces (polychrome for the most recent), called kebe-kebe , which were used in the dance of the same name. This ritual has remained faithful to its original function, which consists of embodying a cosmogony.
The specific characteristics of these wooden masses are due to the details that make the sculpted face that of a human being, which explains the variety of hair, the plastic rendering of the teeth, the presence or absence of scarifications. As for the polychromy that characterizes the objects belonging to the third style, it is associated with a particular symbolism.
In this new volume of the Visions of Africa collection, you will discover a vast collection of authentic objects from a traditional culture of equatorial Africa as well as a reconstruction of migratory routes which could explain a seemingly heterogeneous corpus of objects.
Visions of Africa
The Kuyu ethnic group lives in the northern part of the Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville), on the banks of the Congo River, in an area of equatorial Africa that has remained free from Muslim influence and Western colonization. While the Kuyu initially played a predominant role, they later became a minority within the Mbochi population.
The objects that are part of their material culture have long remained unknown, because they do not conform to the expectations of the Western public, primarily interested in aesthetics.
The aesthetic expression of the Kuyu is divided into three styles; the first two, of which we have a limited number of testimonies, are closely linked to the Kuyu ethnic group, while the third style, to which most of the sculptures belong, includes Kuyu and Mbochi objects. This production includes statuettes and especially anthropocephalic wooden maces (polychrome for the most recent), called kebe-kebe , which were used in the dance of the same name. This ritual has remained faithful to its original function, which consists of embodying a cosmogony.
The specific characteristics of these wooden masses are due to the details that make the sculpted face that of a human being, which explains the variety of hair, the plastic rendering of the teeth, the presence or absence of scarifications. As for the polychromy that characterizes the objects belonging to the third style, it is associated with a particular symbolism.
In this new volume of the Visions of Africa collection, you will discover a vast collection of authentic objects from a traditional culture of equatorial Africa as well as a reconstruction of migratory routes which could explain a seemingly heterogeneous corpus of objects.