African Art

Another kind of statue that was very commonly found in, among other peoples, the Kongo is the nail fetishes. These statues had several tasks, among other to protect their owners with the power of the spirits and to bind appointments, also conducted with the aid of the spirits. Further, some of these nail fetishes served as an appointment book, each time an agreement was made, a new nail was introduced. In addition to helping remember an appointment, the spirit inside the statue will also punish the part that breaks the appointment. In this sense, the spirit protects the owner of the statue and his family/friends.

Nail fetish statue from the Kongo people.
Image source: Zyama.com, used with permission

According to religious beliefs, it is the nails that enable these statues to behold a spirit. Every nail fastens some of the flesh of the spirit. The nails also, as discussed above, serve as appointment reminders.

It is also a belief that some of these will protect the house of the owner. The few that serves this purpose are characterized by a mirror on the body, which is believed to be an opening for the spirit and a lens through which it can capture the soul of unwanted visitors.

Masks

A practice that I personally find less interesting than the statues, but which seems to fascinate many, is the use of masks. Masks conduct a change the facial characteristics (that is also why we use them in theatres), and thus in a sense who you are. In ancient Africa masks were used for many religious ceremonies but also for fun in practices older than we can trace, however, an African tale tells us abut the first masks:

"Once a long time ago, an African family with only one child lived in some dry inlands. Every morning, the father would go with the rest of the men hunting and the mother would go with the rest of the women from the village to get water in a river. Their son usually stayed at home with the other children until one day when he decided to follow his mother. This evolved and more and more frequently did the boy follow his mother.
As time passed, the son grew up and soon he was old enough to start hunting. It had, however, become the custom of the boy to follow his mother towards the river and he did not want to go with his father and the other men hunting. The mother was puzzled at this and she did not know what to do, until one day when se got an idea. The night through, she sat by the fire painting on her buckets, not telling anybody what she was up to. The next morning she told her son that he should follow her to the river and help her carry the heavy buckets. The boy, happy as he was, went along with the women. As they came to the river, the mother told him to stay a little back due to the risk of drowning, so the boy did. When his mother knelt down, however, he could see how the buckets turned into ill tempered monsters. In shock, he ran back to the almost empty village and decided for himself that tomorrow he would go hunting"

Chokowe woman wearing a mask during a traditional rite.
Image source: Unknown

This, however, was not actually a mask, but it is said (in traditional beliefs) that this is when the use of masks to change your personality or exterior looks began in Africa. From some day, perhaps this, masks have played a major role in African traditions and celebrations. For example, in puberty rituals, marriage and annual religious rites, masks were used for dancing. Also some mediums used masks when they were contacting divine help.

Other Forms of Art

In addition to religious arts, many kingdoms had artists or craftsmen that worked for the royal court. Their job was to make curious and beautiful belongings for the king and his court, often thrones, tobacco boxes, fans, non-religious statues, etc..

Pensador, Image source: Pensador.com, used with permission

Among other symbols, I believe that Angola's national symbol, the pensador(Portuguese for thinker), is an ancient non-religious symbol. Some sources suggest that this design originally came from the Chokowe tribe of northern Angola.

Modern History and Cautions

All marketing of handicrafts in Angola were under the control of Artiang, an arm of the Ministry of Culture until the late 1980's. It was only then that art in Angola blossomed and grew towards the rich diversity it today includes. Today, not only are the Angolan arts sold in Angola and other African countries, some is exported to America and Europe, too. A good example of this is Kabongo, an Angolan painter whose works are sold worldwide. These arts, however, have little link to the traditional African culture and religions, but are created simply to attract the eye of a buyer.

Remember also that the ancient religious statues and other ancient pieces of art are parts of the Angolan national treasures and should therefore not be exported. If you, although the chances are small, are about to buy or have bought one such piece of art (and exported it), the probability that it is stolen is large. Most of the ancient art that is sold in Luanda (especially the Futungo market), can be traced back to thefts from museums in Zaire during the early 1990's.