Nail figure (nkisi nkondi)
- Creator
- Artist Unknown, Vili Peoples, Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Date
- circa 1850
- Collection
- Item Archive
- Description
- This figure is both a public document of dispute resolution in the community that it came from and a receptacle for housing the powerful spirit who watches over those resolutions. An nkisi is a spirit personality or force with the power to harm, heal or protect. It was summoned by a medicinal specialist or nganga, who used figures such as this to materialize the nkisi, make it approachable, and activate its powers to find and punish wrongdoers. It was also employed in regulating and arbitrating conflicts between parties, in sealing pacts between individuals, or in receiving oaths. Displayed in a public space in a village, each nail or blade driven into the figure represents the resolution of a disagreement in the community. How does this mode of public resolution and record keeping differ from our modern society? --University of Michigan Museum of Art
- Source
- View Item Source
