Nkisi nkondi statue (Kongo).

Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Wood, metal, height: 82 cm. Royal Museum

for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium.

 

 

Impressive statue covered with nails and blades. The Nkisi nkondi (term evoking hunting) are used by a community when chasing criminals. The metallic parts standing in the body of the charm materialise the client’s problems and demands, and seal engagements (military treaties, pacts, contracts, oath) joining gesture to speech. The nails, manufactured by blacksmiths, initiated the cult of the dead (Simbo) on anvils of stone removed from the river, were sometimes licked before being planted to reinforce the word given through saliva.