Figure (Mbulu Ngulu)

Figures related to ongoing communion with the ancestors were once widespread among the various Kota peoples. Reducing the human form to flattened planes, artists accentuated these sculptures with sheets and strips of brass and copper. The metal connoted prosperity while its reflective quality was understood to frighten away evil. The figures’ abstraction inspired the Cubists and other modern European artists in the early 20th century to explore forms of repre-sentation that are not rooted in visual reality.