Tchitcherik

A tchitcherik or tchitcherik sakwa (plural: tchitcheri sakab) is a statue of the ancestors of the Moba of northern Togo and Ghana.

Uses

Tchitcheri sakab are wooden sculptures of varying sizes (around a metre in general) that represent figures of ancestors, the word sakab meaning "ancestors" in Moba language. They are planted in the soil, sometimes up to the groin, which explains why the legs are often eaten by xylophagus insects. The tchitcheri are named after the clan of the ancestors they are supposed to honor.^[1]

Only the diviners can order such a sculpture, they also determine its size and sex.^[2] The tchitcheri are minimalist sculptures reminiscent of abstract art, a cylindrical trunk with straight arms and legs, surmounted by a round head and without neck.^[3]

References

^ African Arts, Volume 20, 1986, p.54
^ Alisa LaGamma, John Pemberton, Art and Oracle: African Art and Rituals of Divination, Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), 2000, p.63
^ Frederick Lamp, See the Music, Hear the Dance: Rethinking African Art at the Baltimore Museum of Art, 2004, p.184

Bibliography

Douglas Newton, African and Oceanic Art in Jerusalem: The Israel Museum, Muzeʼon Yiśraʼel (Jerusalem), 2001
Annie Dupuis, Jacques Ivanoff, Ethnocentrisme et création, 2014
Dieter Gleisberg, Merkur & die Musen: Schätze der Weltkultur aus Leipzig, 1989
Mein Afrika: die Sammlung Fritz Koenig, 2000

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[1] African Arts, Volume 20, 1986, p.54

[2] Alisa LaGamma, John Pemberton, Art and Oracle: African Art and Rituals of Divination, Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), 2000, p.63

[3] Frederick Lamp, See the Music, Hear the Dance: Rethinking African Art at the Baltimore Museum of Art, 2004, p.184

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