Standing figure "katanda"

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Description

wood, brown patina, dark paint remains, arm stretched upward, a neckless, elongated head inbetween, body covered by circular drillings, min. dam., small missing parts, traces of abrasion;
used in high-level initiation ceremonies of the “bwami” society to teach a highly developed code of ethics and morals that formed the base of Lega social order.
“Katanda” means “Mr. Mat” and represents a woven mat, used primarily as a bed. Good sleeping mats are clean and intact, so the holes in this particular figure alert us to a problem. The holes made by army ants imply that the owner war lazy and sleeping when or where he should not have been. The message the figure gives is negative and warns against evil, laziness and loose morals.

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Comparing literature

Fagaly, William, Ancestors of Congo Square, New Orleans 2011, p. 283, ill. 150

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Publications

AHDRC: 0142032

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