Bakongo fetish statue of the Congo DRC. Part of over 50 years.
Among the Kongo, the Minkisi (sing. nkisi) probably constitute the largest spirits class. It has given rise until today to the production of very many sculptures which are real "objects-torce" intended to act on the world and on all the beings which populate it. Anthropomorphic Minkisi are only a fraction, probably the best known because it has always attracted the interest of ethnographers and collectors. If they are sculpted by artists, they will not be sacred, formatted, "armed" with magic and manipulated substances only by ritual specialists who are called Nganga. These are socially recognized in Kongo culture as useful. They respond to the various requests for individuals who feel afflicted or threatened by evil spirits. For example, an NGANGA will use its Minkisi to restore a hunter of hunting success, to find and neutralize a bewitcher who threatens the life of his client or to protect a village from thefts and attacks. Some are used to settle conflicts between people, between families or between clans. Among all types of Minkisi, Minkisi Nkondi are recognized as the most aggressive bold objects, which can be used for violent attacks likely to cause death. They have a distinctive sign a branding arm or a spear. The numerous nails that cover the surface of these objects were not related to the evil that we wanted to make to their victims, but rather with the pain that we wanted to inflict in the mind of the Nkisi so that he gets angry and starts to continue and to persecute the designated victim! During the ritual of invocation of the mind, the Nganga could also throw brandy or rifle powder in the eyes of the figure to irritate it more and also insult it. The most important magic substances, whose symbolic aspects refer to the qualities of the mind, are encapsulated behind a mirror on the abdomen. Mirrors, such as white clay or the opening of certain sea shells, refer to the world of ancestors, virtual world below the surface of the water, opposite the world of the living.