Minneapolis Institute of Art

Itwomba

Kuba artist

Date

19th-20th century

Medium

Wood

Culture

Kuba

Department

Arts of Global Africa

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Itwomba are used in special divination rites to identify witches, thieves and adulterers, and to ascertain the cause of an illness or death. A diviner places a drop of oil or other liquid on the smooth, flat surface of the itwomba's back. He then proceeds to rub a small conical disc back and forth over the oil while chanting a sequence of names and formulas. When the disc sticks to the surface, the name that was spoken at that instant is the answer to the diviner's question. Itwomba are usually made in the form of an animal. This itwomba is an elephant. Kuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Africa

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