At right: Male dancer at the 1971 Bwami initiation ceremony.

Upper left: Ceremonial building.

Lower left: A line of male dancers at a Bwami Society initiation ceremony in 1971.

What makes Lega art especially interesting is that the pieces are intimately related to ritual, social hierarchy and power in Lega society. The art is produced for members of the Bwami Society, a secret initiation society in which members advance to higher grades over the course of their lifetimes. There are separate male and female branches of the Society.

The hat of the solo dancer, with its elephant hair crown, and his leopard-tooth necklace indicate that this man has reached the Kindi rank, the highest rank in the Bwami Society.

During the initiation ceremony, the art objects are kept in this round ceremonial building, to be brought out at the appropriate time. They are guarded by female members of the Bwami Society.

Photographs courtesy of Robert Harms.

Left: Figurine, Maginga
Ivory
Lega, Africa YPM 268126

Center: Figurine, Maginga
Probably elephant bone
Lega, Africa YPM 268159

Right: Figurine, Maginga
Ivory
Lega, Africa YPM 268237

Lega carvings also represent hierarchy and power. Certain pieces can be owned and carried only by members who hold a certain rank in the Society. Thus, as a person advances in rank over the years, he or she gains the right to own previously forbidden objects. A look at someone’s collection can quickly tell you what rank he or she has attained. The objects are displayed during ceremonies when a new initiate joins the Society, or when a member is initiated into a higher rank.

Above, the figurine on the left is in an abstract Lega style, with raised eyes and a long nasal ridge. There are simple arms at the side, a narrowing torso, and a swelling conical shape forms the lower trunk.

The center figurine shows four classical Lega faces oriented to the cardinal points and two Janus faces.

The figurine on the right is a classical Janus-faced figure of Sabitwebitwe.