FEATURE
106
monograph. Indeed, situated between heaven
and earth and partaking in both, most of the
works featured in the publication connected
the ancestors and their descendants in order
to offer guidance and protection to the living,
as well as to remedy both physical and mental
health problems and misfortune through the
help of otherworldly spirits. Though ambiguity
and ambivalence were among the hallmarks
of all manga, and any functional differentiation
is somewhat arbitrary, for theoretical purposes
distinctions have been proposed between manga
for collective use and those for personal
use, as well as between those with a single
focus and those with multiple targets. Art
scholars and collectors have been most interested
in carved fi gurative power objects, but for
the Luluwa people the essence of the bwanga is
what is contained within. In other words, rather
than its form, it is the receptacle’s contents
that matters most. In fact, the most commonly
found manga were natural containers such as
horns, snail shells, gourds, and animal or human
skulls (fi g. 4).
New manga were constantly invented and
created, while others lost their appeal and fell
into disuse over time. One of the most enduring
and remarkable categories associated with certain
types of anthropomorphic fi gure sculpture
in wood is bwanga bwa bukalenga. The name
denotes large-scale male fi gures dressed with the
carved imitation of various chiefl y insignia, including
a leopard skin and sword (fi gs. 5 and 6).
Famous among these is the example in the collection
of the RMCA, whose cowrie-eyed head
graces the cover of my book (fi g. 1). This type
of bwanga was meant to preserve and revitalize
a chief’s authority, and the related fi gures are
said to represent esteemed ancestors. Sometimes
named after the men they memorialized, these
fi gures underline the importance of the ancestors
and refl ect the belief that the dead have a lasting
impact on the life of their descendants. The
sculptures’ attributes suggest that they specifi cally
portray men who had attained the highest political
rank, known as bukalenga bwa nkashaama,
which established a privileged connection
between the chief and the leopard (nkashaama).
Named bwanga bwa Cibola, representations
of a pregnant woman or of a mother holding