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Course: Art of Africa > Unit 4
Lesson 2: Democratic Republic of the Congo- Crucifix (Kongo peoples)
- Female (pwo) mask (Chokwe peoples)
- Female (pwo) Mask (Chokwe peoples)
- Power Figure: Male (Nkisi)
- Power Figure, Nkisi Nkondi, Kongo peoples
- Seated Figure (Tumba) (Kongo peoples)
- Portrait of King Mishe miShyaang maMbul (Kuba peoples)
- Lukasa (memory board) (Luba peoples)
- Buli Master, possibly Ngongo ya Chintu, Prestige Stool: Female Caryatid (Luba or Hemba peoples)
- Double Prestige Panel (Kuba peoples)
- Figurative Harp (Domu) (Mangbetu peoples)
- Headdress (Yaka peoples)
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Lukasa (memory board) (Luba peoples)
Essay by Juliet Moss
Performing history
While Europeans may open a history book to learn about their past, in the Luba Kingdom of the Democratic Republic of Congo, history was traditionally performed—not read. In fact, Luba royal history is not chronological and static as learn it. Rather, it is a dynamic oral narrative which reinforces the foundations upon which Luba kingship is established and supports the current leadership. This history is also used to interpret and judge contemporary situations.
Special objects known as lukasa (memory boards) are used by experts in the oral retelling of history in Luba culture. The recounting of the past is performative and includes dance and song. The master who has the skill and knowledge to read the lukasa will utilize it as a , touching and feeling the beads, shells, and pegs to recount history and solve current problems.
Luba Kingdom
The Luba Kingdom of the Democratic Republic of Congo was a very powerful and influential presence from the sixteenth to the early twentieth centuries in central Africa. Their art highlights the roles that objects played in granting the holders the authority of kingship and royal power.
The Luba people are one of the Bantu peoples of Central Africa and the largest ethnic group in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Kingdom of the Luba arose in the Upemba Depression (a large marshy area comprising some fifty lakes) in what is now the southern Democratic Republic of Congo. The Luba had access to a wealth of natural resources, including gold, ivory, and copper, but they also produced and traded a variety of goods, such as pottery and wooden sculpture.
Lukasa
For the Luba people, kingship is sacred, and the elite Mbudye Society (whose members are considered “men of memory," and who have extensive religious training) use the lukasa to recount history in the context of spiritual rituals. Diviners (who have the power to predict the future) can also read the lukasa.
Each lukasa is different but small enough to hold in the left hand. The board is "read" by touching its surface with the right forefinger. The tactile qualities are apparent. The lukasa illustrated here is one of the oldest known examples, with carved geometric designs on the back and sides, and complex clusters of beads of various sizes whose colors have faded over time. The board is narrower at the center making it easy to hold.
The lukasa is typically arranged with large beads surrounded by smaller beads or a line of beads, the configuration of which dictates certain kinds of information. This information can be interpreted in a variety of ways and the expert might change his manner of delivery and his reading based upon his audience and assignment. The most important function of the lukasa was to serve as a memory aid that describes the myths surrounding the origins of the Luba empire, including recitation of the names of the royal Luba line.
Additional resources
Essay by Juliet Moss
Want to join the conversation?
- I would love to hear some of these legends. Is there a book which compiled some examples of traditional oral history? I know writing -- which is static --has less appeal than an energetic storyteller and a fluid, ever-shifting history. But has anyone tried writing down some of these histories and legends?(18 votes)
- How many Memory Boards are estimated to exist?(8 votes)
- I found much more about memory boards, including this: http://www.africanpoliticsandpolicy.com/?p=5060 but nothing about how many continue to exist. Why is that number of interest to you?(4 votes)
- Who is the intended audience of this piece?(6 votes)
- Probably the rest of the Luba population.(1 vote)
- Is the Lukasa on display in a museum?(3 votes)
- There are examples in a number of museums including The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Brooklyn Museum, unfortunately, neither currently has a Lukasa on display.(6 votes)
- The article states, "The board is "read" by touching its surface with the right forefinger as seen in the photograph.", but I didn't see any forefingers in the only photograph in the article. Can someone point the forefinger out for me?(4 votes)
- "Read" using your right forefinger I imagine. The board itself looks as if there are "slots" wherein the diviner could place her fingers as well. I don't believe the author of this essay meant that the Lukasa itself has any forefingers on it.(3 votes)
- is it possible for these to be considered as items of ancestral worship?(2 votes)
- How did westerners react to these memory boards?(2 votes)
- Why was history traditionally performed and not read?(2 votes)
- What are the exact measurements/dimensions of this particular Lukasa?(1 vote)
- Luba. Lukasa Memory Board, late 19th or early 20th century. Wood, beads, 10 x 5 3/4 x 1 3/4in. (25.4 x 14.6 x 4.4cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Marcia and John Friede, 76.20.4. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 76.20.4_view2_PS9.jpg)(3 votes)
- cite this article in MLA citation(1 vote)