Fetish figure - Mahafaly - Madagascar - Fetish Vazimba

MF18, Fetish figure Vazimba, Monstermann. Height 55 cm, diameter 13 cm, 2475 g, exact origin unknown, manufactured around 1970. I acquired this figure from a conglomerate of a collection on the art market in Tulear, in the southwest of Madagascar. The seller came from deep in the Mahafaly land and it seems to be the dissolution of an artist’s workshop. The carvers in the Betioky region manufacture ritual figures from driftwood of large rivers for family commissions, including grave stelae like the famous AloAlo. Here we have a figure from a strange artistic niche within the already extraordinary ancestor cult of the Malagasy.
Obviously a man with complex anxiety issues and a bad dentist. The monstrously gaping maw exposes a frightening set of teeth and the oversized eyes protrude. The large ears also hint at a character trait of people who like to listen and observe in order to spread rumors. Archaic societies in the south suffer greatly from yellow feelings, envy, malice and jealousy. Perhaps this Vazimba warns against it or points to a real personality with this profile.
Hardwood, gray oxidized, cracks from drying, wood growths incorporated aesthetically.
Vazimba were the original indigenous people of Madagascar, ethnologically not clearly proven. These very short, pygmy-like beings are said to have lived nomadically there before Madagascar was settled. According to folk myths, the immigrant settlers from the Indo-Pacific region hunted and displaced them. Some ethnic groups are said to have mixed with them; sometimes you really see very small people with relatively shapeless heads in the races. Perhaps in the storytelling world of the Neuland-Madagasans there is a kind of trauma anchored that led to the mystification of this ethnicity. The Vazimba play the role in Madagascar of our fairies, dwarfs and goblins. There are countless, mostly eerie stories and legends about Vazimba. In the southern Tulear region, this is also depicted in a few workshops in a figurative way and these “monsters” are sold as a deterrent example or to educate children about rules and prohibitions. Over these fads the carved Vazimba watches.
According to the spiritual beliefs of some Malagasy ethnic groups, the soul of a deceased person (Razana) travels a long path to the realm of the ancestors and to the creator god Andriamanitra. Along the way it can reside in various stations, including animals. These are holy animals such as crocodile, ibis, zebu, chameleon, to whom special powers and mystical properties are attributed. Thus the belief in therianthropes, magical beings, and mixtures of humans and animals (bibi olona) is very widespread. These are often symbolized in sculptures, stelae, and masks.