Kongo statue from Congo DRC. Piece over 40 years old.
The Kongo are a people of Central Africa, found mainly in the south of the Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville), in the provinces of Bas-Congo and Bandundu in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in a large part of Angola. At the end of the 20th century, they were estimated at around ten million.
Depending on the sources, multiple variants are observed: Bacongo, Badondo, Bakango, Ba-Kongo, Bakongos, Bandibu, Bashikongo, Cabinda, Congo, Congos, Fjort, Frote, Ikeleve, Kakongo, Kikongo, Kileta, Kongos, Koongo, Nkongo, Wacongomani1
Internationally, the term Bakongo prevails. ba- is, in Kikongo, the prefix which indicates the plural, mu- indicates the singular, and ki-, the language.
The Kongo religion considers the world to be multidimensional. The material world and the spiritual world are two spaces which intersect at certain points in the universe. Humans are confined to lower or advanced dimensions. Spirits evolve in a sub-part of this universe of at least 8 dimensions. In the spirit world is the city of the ancestors, Mpemba. Beyond these worlds lies Kalunga Nzambi ya Mpungu Tulendu. The ancestors act as intermediaries between the divine and man.
The divine is seen as the primary Cause of all things, the vital essence of all things as well as the final destination of all things. This is how Kalunga is both the place where the spirits go, from which they come and God Himself (Nzambi), source of these spirits. Kalunga is also the primitive sea from which everything emerged, the self-created, the Ka which reigns over all things (ka: vital essence; lunga: accomplish, concretize and reign).
Spirituality is also the basis of political and social organization.
The intersection between the two worlds has the shape of a cross, hence the importance of this symbol in Kongo thought. Furthermore, the character of Ne-Kongo (from whom the name Kongo comes) is supposed to be this intersection of Kalunga with the human world, therefore a divine being in human form, also symbolized by the cross. It is these similarities with Christianity that facilitated its adoption.
The descent is matrilineal, and the entire Kongo people are grouped around 12 clans (kânda in Kongo), which are also found in the denominations of many peoples of black Africa; thus the Mbenza among the Sereres, Wolofs, the Muyabis, descendants of Nzinga, among the Duala, Mossi, etc.
African art, African mask
Item delivered with an invoice and a certificate of authenticity.
african art african tribal arte africana afrikanische kunst