The nkondi embodies the spirit of an nkisi (plural: minkisi), a chosen companion in whom all people find confidence, a hiding place for people’s souls, to preserve life, breath. This nkondi stands with his head high, his eyes closed, and his hands holding a bilongo box embedded in his mooyo.

On the left edge inside of the bilongo box there appears to be a remnant of glass, evidence of a reflective plate, a common seal on the bilongobox that offers a way to see into the spirit world. The mirror on this nkisi nkondi is missing: some mirrors were destroyed through the transportation of the minkisi, while some were smashed by European colonists to diminish their power.

Mbau adorn the body of an nkisi nkondi, nailed into the body by an nganga, a diviner entrusted to perform bibaaku, or the sealing of covenants within communities and homes. Metal blades were driven into minkisi to provoke action: to pass judgement, prevent transgressions, foster peace, and provide guidance. Bundles of medicine and other charged objects calledmfunya sometimes reinforced these covenants and increased the spiritual power of the nkondi.

On October 21, 2016, our 360 began constructing the exhibition Exhibiting Africa: Ways of Seeing, Knowing and Showing.

On October 26, 2016, this nkisi nkondi arrived at Bryn Mawr College as a donation from alumna Klare Scarborough (Ph.D. 2005).

On November 18, 2016, during a visit with our class, Zoë Strother, professor of African Art at Columbia University, suggested that this nkondi was probably made specifically for the tourist trade.

If so, this object would never have been used for healing, nor for the binding of agreements, nor for access to the spiritual realm. Rather it was created to accommodate the Westerner’s fantasies of Africa. Traditionally, minkisi’s eyes remain open to the spirit world and vigilant towards injustice. Perhaps the eyes of this nkondi were carved to be shut to bar voyeuristic, corruptive foreigners from accessing its spiritual power.