Fetish figure - Mahafaly - Madagascar - Fetish Vazimba

MF18, fetish figure Vazimba, Monstermann. Height 55 cm, diameter 13 cm, 2475 g, exact origin unknown, manufactured circa 1970. I acquired this figure from a conglomerate of a collection at the art market in Tulear, in the southwest of Madagascar. The seller came from deep within the Mahafaly country and it is likely the dissolution of an artist’s workshop. The carvers in the Betioky region make ritual figures from driftwood for family commissions, including grave stelae like the famous AloAlo. This is 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 monsterishly gaping mouth exposes a terrifying set of teeth, and the oversized eyes protrude. The large ears also point to a character trait of people who like to listen and observe in order to spread rumors. Arcane societies in the south suffer greatly from yellow feelings of envy, malice, and jealousy. Perhaps this Vazimba warns of this or reveals a real personality with this profile.
Hardwood, gray oxidized, crack lines, wood stains incorporated in appearance.
Vazimba were the original indigenous people of Madagascar, ethnologically not clearly proven. These very small, pygmy-like beings are said to have lived nomadically there before the island’s settlement. In folk myths, the incoming settlers from the Indo-Pacific region allegedly hunted and expelled them. Some ethnic groups are said to have mixed with them; sometimes one sees in the races really very small people with relatively shapeless heads. Perhaps in the storytelling world of the Neo-Madagascarese there is a kind of trauma attached that led to the mystification of this ethnicity. The Vazimba occupy in Madagascar the role of our fairies, dwarves, and goblins. There are countless, mostly eerie stories and legends about Vazimba. In the southern region of Tulear, these are sometimes depicted in a few workshops in a figurative manner and sold as a deterrent example or to teach children about rules and commandments. Over these fads then watches the carved Vazimba.
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 may linger in different stages as animals. These are sacred animals such as crocodile, ibis, zebus, chameleon, to which special powers and mystical properties are ascribed. The belief in therianthropy, magical beings, and chimeras between human and animal (bibi olona) is thus very widespread. These are often symbolized in sculptures, stelae, and masks.