PHP TEST
Dengese Information

Location: Democratic Republic of the Congo
Population: 12,000
Language: Bondengese, Lingala
Neighbors: Kuba
Types of Art: While the Dengese do not use masks, their artists have produced great statues that became part of museum collections. These fine religious statues may be portraits of ancestors or funeral effigies. These statues have no lower extremities; the bodies are covered with scarifications, and figures wear bracelets and have hairdos that resemble those worn by notables, or totshi: a kind of finely braided bonnet topped with a small, wooden cylinder covered with fiber. Thus the body becomes a text. The bust and arms lengthen to accommodate the symbolic inscriptions that recall the relationship between the chief and those who are subject to his authority. The totshi belonged to an association that required enormous fees from its future members and an initiation that was performed in two stages. The statues are the funerary effigies of the totshi and represent them during the anniversary ceremony of the funeral, which would take place several months after a death. The female statue is one supposedly depicting the female founder of the association, but women are not admitted as members. The headdress, a distorted cone, represents the one placed on the head of the king during his installation and symbolizes understanding, intelligence, distinction, respect, and unity among chiefs. The placement of the hands on the belly refers to the common origins of the subjects of the king, from which he anticipates cooperation. Numerous symbols are carved on the neck and on the elongated torso and arms in imitation of scarification patterns. The patterns allude to aphorisms and praise phrases that encode the mysteries of Dengese chiefly authority. The elongated trunk, covered with a close network of scarification, is entirely different from that of the head, which is smooth, expressive and dignified. A typical flared coiffure and geometric scarifications appear on cephalomorphic scepters and drinking cups also made by Dengese. There are other carvings known from this tribe, such as a standing figure with a cup on its head, stools, and pipes. The Dengese are famous for their taste for costumes, for the decoration of their weapon, and for their metal necklaces and bracelets.
History: North of the Kuba kingdom situated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, across the Sankuru River, the 12,000 Dengese,(BONKESE, DEKESE, NDENGESE, NDENKESE), people claim to be the original population of the area. Their king, known as the Etoshi, reigns over local chiefs who are assisted by noble men. Powerful groups such as the blacksmith, hunting and witchcraft societies counterbalance the political power of the chiefs.The Dengese also known as Ndengese, are neighbors of the Kuba, and their figures are known for their elaborate body scarification. Ndengese are said to be from the Mongo group and claim to have been in the area before the Kuba arrived in the center of Democratic Republic of Congo (former Zaire). The Ndengese are related to Nkutshu who are also mongo descent. They share cultural and artistic similarities with the Mongo and the Kuba. According to some traditions, the Ndengese are descended from the Etotoshi, oldest son of Woot, who is said to be the founder of the Kuba kingdom. Upon the investiture of a Kuba king, the Kuba must go to the Ndengese to get the sacred earth, even in this century.
Economy: The Ndengese are farmers, hunters and fishermen.
Political Systems: he Ndengese are patrilineal. The king Etoshi is aided by a council of elders and reigns over local chiefs His power is counterbalanced by that of the blacksmith, hunting, and secret societies.
Religion: Religion is tied to the various status societies.The chief and notables in power play a major role in village rituals.
Credit: For more information, and fine examples, see: The catalogue TRESORS D’AFRIQUE. MUSEE DE TERVUREN, 1995, fig. 142. Cornet Joseph, “A PROPOS DES STATUES NDENGESE” in Art d’Afrique Noire, Spring 1976, no 17, pp 6-16, Arnouville: Arts d’Afrique Cornet,