A Kulango bronze figure, Ivory Coast, kneeling, well balanced with very short arms and a protruding navel, the wide opened large neck carrying an oval shaped head onto which are the faces features, composed of a half opened mouth, nose and globulous eyes; some oxydation.

“The Kulango of Nassian, a Gur people living mainly in the North-Eastern territory of modern Ivory Coast, with a few villages scattered along the border in Ghana, are sedentary horticulturalists, whose relationships with the plant-kingdom they live in, share many characteristics with those typical of the Abron-Akan groups, but also of some Gur/Voltaic communities they live in contact with."

Source: Ilaria Micheli, Living a Kulango Life:
Examples of Socialization under the Shadow of the Laasagyo.
Kervan – International Journal of Afro-Asiatic Studies n. 20 (2016) 257.

" The Kulango from the northern part of the Ivory Coast were a prosperous group of people and over time proved to be very resilient. Historically they were ruled by a king and elders who directed community life, based around the agricultural calendar. They had a vigorous and prosperous economy supported mainly by Muslim traders. The traders would also come into the Kulango region with the intention of converting the locals to Islam. However, the Kulango resisted. The majority continued to practice their traditional ethnic religions. They believe in a supreme God who is not worshipped but is addressed in association with “mother earth.” Unfortunately during the 17th century life for the Kulango became very grim. They suffered through a series of migrations from the Akan and Lobi people and hostile invasions from the Mandingo people who enslaved them and almost brought their culture to an end. This region was later infiltrated by French colonialist.”

Source: Christas.

Further reading: Alain Michel Boyer, Les figurines Kulango, 5 Continents Editions, Milano, 2017.

sold

Height: 13 cm
Weight: 310 g