Fang Ngoumba Reliquary Guardian Statue, Gabon, c. 1950

This statue is part of the first phase of the Ngumba ritual. It was kept in a very isolated place, inaccessible and guarded by voodoo (great magicians). When the population lived through dramatic moments it became necessary to begin the ritual. During the first phase, the notables sat around this statue, held between the knees of a user, for two days. The role of the statue was to invite the spirits to the place after having eliminated all hostile elements, then the notables invoked the spirits (Jins) to find out if the ceremony was possible and how to organize it. Height: 55 cm Reproduced: Catalogue “Africa Babel: the Art of a Continent”, p.- 101 right
 
Exhibitions:
2022-2024 Island of Fuerteventura “Art Africa: Ancestral Light”. Lighthouse of the Entallada. Cabildo of Fuerteventura.
2021-2022 Panama City. Government of Panama. “Art Africa: the spirit of the ancestors”. Ministry of Culture Headquarters. Casco Viejo.
2019-2020 Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Caja Canarias Foundation. “Africa-Babel: the art of a Continent”. Headquarters Plaza Patriotismo.
2013-2015 Museum of Art of Africa and Oceania (Madao). La Granja de San Ildefonso, Segovia.
2005 “Black Africa”, Leather Museum.
2004 “Black Africa”. Caixa Laietana Foundation, Barcelona. Main exhibition hall