For the public, the word "Kongo" evoques immediately the African continent. Today, two countries and a river carry this name. But the word "Kongo", written "Congo" today, also evoques seven centuries of history - a history that is inseperable from that of central Africa. "Kongo" is first of all the name of a people, who after a long migration, settled down in the XIII Century at the mouth of the great river.
When the portugese, in search of a new route to India, arrived in 1482 on the Angolan coast, they entered for the first time in contact with the Kongo Kingdom. Powerful and stuctured, this Kingdom extended from what today is northern Angola, eastern D.R.C.(ex Zaire), Cabinda, southern Congo (Brazzaville) and a part of Gabon.
Organized into six provinces, the Kongo Kingdom encoumpassed a large number of ethnic groups. Fruits of military conquest, results of Kongo lineages, or simply attracted by the splendor of the Kingdom, these other groups adopted a large part of the Kongo culture.
Thus, the Sundis, Bembes, Yombes, Vilis, whose commun language is Kikongo, formed this large collection of people still known today as "Bakongo". But far from being a homogeneous group, the Bakongos have kept a part of their original traditions. From centuries of history and inter minglings, result a richness and diversity that we invite you to admire few exemples.
The best known of Kongo art is the "Nkisi." The "Nkisi" is a spirit from the world of the dead. By extension, it is the name given to the sculptures anticipated for use by man to gain hold of a spirit from the beyond, then employing it for terrestrial aims. In order to face certain trials (illness, conflict, sterility, sorcery, etc). "Nkisis" are statues of power, that incarnate magical forces influencing daily life. They can be sollicited for divination, therapeutic rites, or for protection. In the Kongo universe, death and illness are never natural. They are always the result of occult practices, voluntary or not. One needs therefore, to identify the source of these practices which disturbs man's life. In this goal, a "nkisi" can intervene, due to his power of divination.
The precise function of a "nkisi", is determined by the "nganga" who gives it power. He activates the statue by placing magical charges on the stomach, the head, the back, or the sex of the statue. Made of various receptacles, the charges contain the real power of the statue. "Nkisis" are in contact with supernatural forces. They, therefore, have to be manipulated with precaution. Bad usage can be nefast and can turn against the user. Anyone may possess a "nkisi", but, only the "nganga" has the power to control or activate it.
This Bembe nkisi represents an ancestor from a noble lineage
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