Minneapolis Institute of Art

Power figure

Songye artist

Date

c. 1900

Medium

Wood, horn, brass tacks, metalwork, glass beads, fiber

Culture

Songye

Department

Arts of Global Africa

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

In a small house at the edge of a Songye village, a ritual expert would have kept a large power figure. Contrary to the much smaller personal power figures, these communally owned ones were invoked for general welfare and protection against illness, sorcery, and war. The three horns atop this figure’s head once contained substances that enhanced its mystical power. When impending danger was sensed, two men would carry the figure through the village to ward off evil, holding it with wooden poles passed under its armpits. Democratic Republic of the Congo, Africa

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