As for the third kind of sculpture of the Chiwara,
it is found in the region around Bougouni. Here the
artist presents the most abstract types of Chiwara
that use angles and forms that are so stylized and
unique that they present Chiwara on the back of a
turtle or lizard. The artist rendering of the philo-
sophical, moral, and religious concepts is part of the
nature of Bamana culture to see gradual evolution
of images in the direction of abstraction.
During the 20th century, Bamana art in the
form of the Chiwara became popular in Western
circles, where artists copied the form on two-
dimensional surfaces and art dealers sold the
authentic pieces of Bamana art for good prices.
The use of the Chiwara as a model art piece in
contemporary homes was a widespread practice in
Europe and America during the latter part of the
20th century. It may be that the Chiwara and the
Dan mask were the two most frequently used
pieces of African art in the Americas and Europe.
Noted by Westerners for its spectacular nod to
abstraction, the Chiwara is one of the best exam-
ples of African religious art expressing the senti-
ments of a people. The Bamana place in the
Chiwara the principles of balance, harmony, and
order, which are fundamental to their own way of
viewing reality. There is no way that the Bamana
person can approach the sacred without apprecia-
tion of the spirit of Chiwara.
Molefi Kete AsanteSeealsoBamana
Further Readings
Balandier, G., & Maquet, J. (1974).Dictionary of Black
African Civilization. New York: Amiel.
Delange, J. (1967).The Art and Peoples of Black Africa.
Toronto: Dutton.
Vandervort, B. (2001, Fall). The Bamana Empire by the
Niger: Kingdom, Jihad and Colonization, 1712–1920.
Journal of World History, 12 (2), 501–505.
CHOKWE
The Chokwe ethnic group is situated in northeast
Angola with a close contact with Zambia, Congo,
Botswana, and Mozambique. Chokwe constitute
one of the most important ethnic groups in the
Angola culture, among the Ovimbundu, Kimbundu,
Bacongo, and Ngangela.
The Chokwe people are descendants of the
Bantu group, and their primary language is
Chokwe, which originates from Bantu. The
Chokwe traditional religious history is derived
from the Lunda Empire or the “Mwata Yanvo”
Muatianvuas, which had its heroic period, develop-
ment, apex, and decline from the 17th to the 19th
centuries. Hordas coming from East of Angola,
led by their chiefs Chokwe-Lunda Tshinguri,
Tshinyama, and others, settled near the source of
rivers Cuango, Cassai, and Alto-Zambeze; these
regions were already inhabited by the Bantu group
before the Chokwe settlement. This entry looks at
their religious beliefs and practices.Chokwe Beliefs
The Chokwe have strong religious beliefs that are
associated with their internal history and their
moral geographical position within the Angolan
history. Chokwe religious ideals are the continua-
tion of their ancestor’s traditions that reflect their
everyday life. This means that, within their reli-
gious traditions, the linkage with the ancestors is
inevitably a primary concern.
An appreciation of the Chokwe concept of God
must involve an understanding of the pride of
place given to ancestors. To the Chokwe people,
life has no value at all if the presence and power
of ancestral spirits are excluded. Ancestral spirits
are the most intimate gods of the Chokwe people;
they are part of the family and are consulted fre-
quently by its members.
The concept ofsacred kingshipin Chokwe reli-
gion was originally introduced to the Chokwe
by a foreign Luba hunter of royal blood called
Chibinda Ilunga. In fact, Chibinda Ilunga remains
at the core of the chiefs’ central position in
Chokwe religion today. Chiefs or kings are
regarded as the representatives of God (Kalunga
or Nzambi) on Earth and as the intermediaries
between the world of humans and the realm of
ancestral and natural spirits that affects humans
and their environments. The Chokwe king, or
Mwanangana, is literally the “owner/overseer of
the land,” the individual who is ultimately respon-
sible for the well-being of the people, fertility, and
the continuity of his or her people.Chokwe 165