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4. Oracle Figure (Kafigeledjo)
Senufo, Côte d'Ivoire
Wood, iron, bone, commercially woven fiber, organic material; H. 82.6 cm (32 1/2 in.)
19th–20th century
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Wielgus, 1964
1978.412.488

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4. Oracle Figure (Kafigeledjo)

hybrid creation that lies outside the realm of anything recognizable in nature, this oracle figure deliberately provokes anxiety through its shrouded anonymity and the sense of suffocation and entrapment it suggests. Such works and the ritual practice in which they are used are both known as kafigeledjo, a term that is variously translated as "he who speaks the truth," "tell the truth," or "saying true things." The figures give visual representation to invisible bush spirits and function as divination devices.1 In contrast to the sublime humanism of works of Senufo Sando divination (see cat. nos. 2, 3), they clearly embody a wild and unsettling anti-aesthetic.

Kafigeledjo divination is used to uncover misdeeds, false testimony, and culpability. Like the tyeli divination technique practiced by Sandobele (see cat. no. 2), this pursuit of truth ultimately seeks to preserve and uphold Senufo social guidelines concerning descent. It does so by unveiling illicit behavior and by punishing with supernatural sanctions those who violate rules pertaining to forbidden sexual relations and exogamous marriage. The kafigeledjo figure is concealed within a small hut, and although it has the potential to affect all members of a Senufo community, access to this oracle figure is restricted to the most enlightened senior male and, occasionally, female members. These elders occupy positions of leadership, as initiates into the highest level of esoteric knowledge imparted by Poro, the Senufo men's initiation association. Poro and its counterpart, Sandogo (the Senufo women's association), function as a system of government and oversee religious education and all ritual practices.2 Kafigeledjo is reputed to have been an instrument of such elites throughout Senufo society in the past, but more recently it has been the sole province of the Kulebele wood carvers, a Senufo artisan subgroup in the Korhogo region.3

Kafigeledjo is thus a formidable force wielded by Kulebele leaders to distinguish their heritage and preserve the special interests of their constituents.4 In order to harness its power and operate it successfully, these leaders establish their commitment through ritual sacrifices, which unevenly cover the oracle figure's surface with crusty matter. A loosely fitting bodysuit made of a coarse fiber textile (probably burlap) exposes only the feet of the figural representation within; above the neck—where the garment is cinched tightly by a cord—the cloth flares out in an inverted cone. The sleeves are empty and weighted down by appendages tied to them with cord: on the figure's left side, a bone from a large bird, and on its right, a hooklike form made of iron (a scythe?), which extends to the ground.5 The figure's head is crowned by a row of feathers interspersed with porcupine quills. At the figure's back, two packets of organic materials are suspended by a knotted cord, giving the appearance of weighing the figure down. The effect of engulfing the figure in a textile sack blurs the boundaries between material and immaterial, playing with the ambiguity between obscured and revealed form.

The details regarding usage of kafigeledjo figures are shrouded in secrecy. Moreover, no documentation exists to provide descriptions of how such works operated or were physically manipulated. Beyond identifying their divinatory role and the sense of intimidation they inspire, commentaries also fail to elucidate the significance of the kafigeledjo's appearance. On a purely descriptive level, its design resembles that of Fila, a genre of Senufo masquerade costume found throughout the Kufolo region. The term fila is literally "dye-painted cloth," a patterned textile associated with madebele and Sando divination.6 When performing the masquerade, referred to as a "divination cloth masquerade" or "amulet masquerade," a Fila dancer wears the textile sack-style in a manner that recalls kafigeledjo's bodysuit. Underlying this formal affinity, the design and the symbolism of both representations are dictated by local divination systems. Fila masquerades are commissioned as part of a Sando diviner's prescription for a female client, to placate bush spirits she may have offended. She must arrange for someone to perform silently as a Fila dancer at funerals as a form of offering for the rest of her life. It is impossible to say whether kafigeledjo figures influenced the costume of Fila dancers or vice versa. Whatever the origin of the imagery, to some extent they may be considered inversions of each other: one represents a wild force that has been subdued and harnessed as a means for unveiling and punishing transgressions, while the other embodies a hopeful appeal directed toward such an entity for social and spiritual harmony to be restored.

1. Kunst der Senufo 1988.

2. Glaze 1981.

3. Kunst der Senufo 1988; Dolores Richter, Art, Economics, and Change: The Kulebele of Northern Ivory Coast (La Jolla, Calif.: Psych/Graphic Publishers, 1980).

4. Richter, Art, Economics, and Change, p. 57.

5. In most kafigeledjo figures, both of these appendages are made of wood, rather than bone or iron, but it is typical for one of them to be curved, as in this example.

6. Glaze 1981, pp. 79, 221.