Discuss the art in Africa as an agent to engage spiritual powers, giving examples of specific art forms that allow this interaction
What will be an ideal response?
Art in Africa often serves as an agent to bring about some desired state of affairs, usually through contact with spirit powers. The most well known and visually compelling are the power figures of the minkisi, of the Kongo and neighboring central Africa. Minkisi are containers and hold materials that allow a ritual specialist to harness the powers of the dead in the service of the living. Almost any container can be a nkisi, but the most famous minkisi outside Africa are statues of ferocious hunters. These figures are called minkondi and hunt down witches and wrongdoers. A nkondi (singular form) begins as a plain carved figure; then, to empower it, the ritual specialist adds packets of materials to its surface, materials linked to the dead and the dire punishments the nkondi will be asked to inflict. Other materials can be added, such as a hunting net to remind him of his purpose or mirrors on the eyes to see approaching witches. To invoke the nkondi, the specialist violently drives iron nails or blades into it.
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