Figure magique janiforme "kabeja" ·  R. D. Congo, Hemba · ID: 3050435

Description

wood, pigments, bone, wire, base

“Kabeja” figures are seen as visual icon of the primordial couple, the founders of the society (“abeja” = woman, “makua” = man).

In his standard work “La Grande Statuaire Hemba du Zaire”, François Neyt notes: “Whether administering justice (“kihona”), making an offering to the ancestor (“lusingiti”) …, these janus “kabeja” were always present” (Neyt, 1977, p. 483).

Littérature comparée

Neyt, François, La Grande Statuaire Hemba du Zaire, Louvain-la-Neuve 1977, p. 483