Soul container figure "iran otibago" · Guinea-Bissau, Bissagos Islands, Bidjogo · ID: 3047385
Description
wood, encrusted patina, red pigment,
These figures serve as homes for the souls of revered deceased. They provide the living with a means of cummunicating with the ancestors as well as with the surpeme deity (“orrebuco-ocoto”).
An “iran otibago” can belong to an individual or to an entire village. In either instance it is given offerings and appealed to for a wide range of personal and communal concerns.
The “iran” were called in case of illness, civil disputes, to investigate and punish witchcraft or to confirm a village chief. It is reported that before each arable activity animal sacrifices were offered to the “iran” and after the harvest a part of the yield had to be sacrificed to him.
“Iran otibago” figures are stored in a traditional “candjamo” shrine maintained by a female priest (“oquinca”).
Publications
Savary, Claude, Arts africains dans les collections privées neuchâteloises, Fondation Le Grand-Cachot-De-Vent 1985, cat. 30AHDRC: 0056632
Exhibition
Neuchâtel, Switzerland: "Arts africains dans les collections privées neuchâteloises", Fondation Le Grand-Cachot-De-Vent, 8 June-11 August, 1985