Shaping Power: Luba Masterworks from the Royal Museum for Central Africa (review)

“Shaping Power: Luba Masterworks from the Royal Museum for Central Africa” was a powerful statement from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art emphasizing LACMA’s new focus on giving the arts of Africa a more prominent presence at the museum. Many of the works were lent for the first time by the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Belgium, a testament not only to this shift in focus, but also to the authority and expertise of Dr. Mary (Polly) Nooter Roberts, Consulting Curator of African Arts at LACMA and Professor of World Arts and Cultures at UCLA, to bring greater visibility to African arts in Southern California.

The selection of works highlighted the roles that the objects played in granting the holders the authority of kingship. The works are not static objects but are imbued with the power and esoteric knowledge necessary in elevating a person to the status of those with the divine right to rule. Dating from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the masterworks were complemented by a contemporary installation by Congolese artist Aimé Mpane which speaks to the horrors and tragedies from 1885 to the present day, and the shifting of power over time. Housed on the third floor of the Hammer Building with the Art of the Ancient World, it initially felt as if there was no continuity between its location and that of the other objects on this floor, as if the placement were simply due to geography being that it was located next to LACMA’s collection of Egyptian art. Though small and intimate, the exhibit exuded a contemporary feel, particularly due to the lighting and the way the objects were presented, omitting the chronological timeline of how arts of other cultures are typically displayed. This is a good thing, as “Shaping Power” stood on its own.

According to Roberts, Luba royal items bestow the power of rule on the bearer, transforming him into the semidivine (Roberts 2013). But what is fascinating is that, while the king is always a man, the Luba believe that kingship transcends gender, and so during his investiture he would often wear a very elaborate hairstyle typical of women. Also, it is interesting to note that names in Luba culture have no gender distinction. However, it is women in Luba culture who hold the power and the secrets of kingship. Many of the objects depicted female figures, testifying to the fact that women, as the givers of life and keepers and holders of Luba knowledge and rights to royal authority, thereby grant legitimacy to those in power and without whose recognition Luba kingship would cease to exist.

Something the visitor wouldn’t actually see at first but rather hear was a small tablet on the wall with a video of Luba scholar and Associate Professor of Religious Studies at California State University Northridge Dr. Mutombo Nkulu-N’Sengha, narrating the tenets of Luba kingship. He was accompanied by the sounds of music and singing projected in a continuous loop, reminding one that instead of static objects sitting on pedestals, they were parts of performance, an integral component of Luba and other non-Western cultures.

1.

Lukasa (memory board) Luba peoples, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 19th century Wood, glass beads, acacia thorns, and metal; 34 cm Private collection

One of the first works encountered is the lukasa or “memory board” (Fig. 1). The lukasa is read by an expert and involves the recounting of history, but not the chronological and static understanding of history as Westerners know it. Rather, it is an oral narrative which reinforces the foundations upon which Luba kingship is established in conjunction with how this rule should be applied in current situations. In Luba culture, history is performative. The master who has the skill and knowledge to read the lukasa will utilize it as a mnemonic device, touching and feeling the beads and pegs, the reading of which is...