Ancestor statue - Mangbetu - DR Congo

The Mangbetu statues, from the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, are tall, slender wooden sculptures that reflect a culture in which art serves to honor the ancestors and to mark social status.
They often depict female or male figures with faces decorated in geometric motifs reminiscent of body painting and traditional scarifications.
The practice of the “lipombo,” the cranial elongation performed from childhood, is evident in the elongated shape of the heads, a symbol of nobility and belonging to the elite. These objects were placed on thrones or in altars to accompany sacrificial rites and strengthen the link between the living and the spirit world.

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