English description below
Always represented with a raised arm. Kasungalala is a statuette that illustrates the privilege of administering justice to senior officers of the Bwami initiation society, the Kindi. The role of arbitrator in the association is devolved to them.
in the book L'Art Lega - Grandeur et Humilité In the Vallois Valentine Plisnier and Michel Boulanger collection.,2016
These statuettes generically called Iginga as part of the Bwami, an association that organized the social structure and ensured the stability of the Lega community.
The Lega are a Bantu forest people of Central Africa, established in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in the provinces of South Kivu and Maniema.
TYPE OF OBJECT: Iginga. (Statue, statuette, figurine)
.ETHNIC GROUP: Lega- Warega.
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Democratic Republic of Congo
(ex Belgian Congo, ex Zaire).
Provinces: South Kivu and Maniema.
MATERIAL: Wood, beads.
DIMENSIONS: Height: 18 cm.
CONDITION: Average: a few knocks
(hand, leg, foot and head).
See photos.
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Bibliography - Art Lega - Bibliography:
- Lega. Ethics and Beauty in the heart of Africa. Daniel P. Biebuyck. 2002. KBC.
- Lega jewels from the Benoît Rousseau collection. Viviane Baeke, RMCA and Benoît Rousseau. 2013. BRUNEAF.
- In search of the meaning of Bwami, through a collection unlike any other. Viviane Baeke. Undated. Royal Museum for Central Africa.
- The sculpture of the Lega. Daniel P. Biebuyck. 1994. Galerie Hélène and Philippe Leloup-Paris-New-York.
- The arts of Zaire, Vol II Eastern Zaire. Daniel P. Biebuyck, 1986, University of California Press.
- The Art of the Central African Lega, Elizabeth L. Cameron. 2013, Quai Branly Museum.
- Lega Culture. Art, Initiation and Moral Philosophy Among a Central African People. Daniel P. Biebuyck. 1973. University of California Press.
- The Lega and their art. In the footsteps of a dreamer lost in Congoland Emile-Alexandre Georges. 2005. Royal Museum for Central Africa.
- The Lega Art - Greatness and Humility. In the Vallois collection, Valentine Plisnier and Michel Boulanger, 2016
- Sculptures do not speak. The Balega made them speak, Daniel P. Biebuyck Notebooks of Oral Literature 67-68: 69-81, 2010
- The Warega and the Wabembe. An extraordinary social culture and an astonishing civilization without writing in Central Africa, Alexandre Safiannikoff, 2022, Paul Safiannikoff
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Kasungalala. The Judge
Lega people Bwami figure (Iginga).
This Iginga named Kasungalala has always raised arm. This carving illustrates the kindi's privilege of serving as arbiter in quarrels and feuds.(Biebuyck, Lega culture plate66).
A similar piece is illustrated (page 334) in the book Art Lega - Greatness and Humility. In the Vallois collection, 2016, Valentine Plisnier and Michel Boulanger.
These statuettes generically called Iginga were used in the cult of the Bwami, an association that organized the social structure and ensured the stability of the Lega community.
The Lega are a Bantu forest people of Central Africa, established in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in the provinces of South Kivu and Maniema.
Features:
TYPE OF OBJECT: Figure, statue, figurine.
ETHNICAL GROUP: Lega – Balega - Warega.
ORIGIN: Democratic Republic of Congo.
(ex Belgian Congo, ex Zaire).
South Kivu and Maniema provinces
MATERIAL: Wood, beads.
DIMENSIONS: About 7 inches high.
CONDITION: Medium: some defects
(hand, leg, foot, head)
Please have a look on the pictures.
