Head sculpture of the "dyo" - snake cult

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Description

wood, pigments, base

The Kuyu are geographically and culturally divided into two halves - the eastern and the western Kuyu.

The eastern Kuyu consider the mythical snake as the creator of the first humans and as their protector. The club heads depict the Serpent god or the mythical ancestral couple. They appear in dances which are known as “eouya” in the east and as “kebe-kebe” among the western Kuyu.

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Comparing literature

Bénézech, Anne-Marie, "So-called Kuyu Carvings", in African Arts, Vol.XXII, no.1, 1988, p. 52 ff. Bénézech, Anne-Marie, Kuyu, Milan 2021, p. 60

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