LEGA Katanda Figure representing Katanda. The aphorisms related to the statuette follow: "I have loved you; erotic touching destroys the Righteous and Good people; they have destroyed Katanda" Although literally meaning "used mat with holes that one sleeps on", the term also refers to a mean, bad-tempered person, something negative, evil, and the expression "Katanda ke ibazi", refers to a wild invasion of red ants. The statue is used in rituals to highlight the positive and negative aspects of the bwami's code of ethics. In Ethics and Beauty, Daniel Biebuyck, in addition to the meanings given above, also describes Katanda as a bad, unstable and adulterous woman or even a high-ranking initiated seducer. Katanda is useful as a reminder of the severe penalties reserved for those who break the moral rules. The figures used in the cult of the Bwami. Collective, sacred properties, they are kept in secret. Their use is reserved at passages to the upper (Yananio) and supreme (Kindi) levels. The figure is inseparable from the aphorisms associated with it. The Bwami is a hierarchical association by ranks which organizes the social structure and ensures the stability of the Lega community. Each change of level is accompanied with initiation rites where people talk, sing, dance, mime and exhibit. A multitude of aphorisms are used in stories and songs. The aim is to formulate and to interpret in multiple symbolic ways principles, moral and philosophical values and rules of bwami, to each and inculcate them, and to bestow upon the initiates the paraphernalia pertinent to their grade level together with their symbolic references, and to convey the resulting power, prestige and privileges. (Biebuyk, Sculptures don not speak 2010). Dimensions: 15 x 8 x 3 inches. Condition: Structurally sound, yet with crack, as evidenced in photo. For similar statues, see Plisnier, pages 328 and 329, Secrets d'Ivoire, ill138, La sculpture des Lega p126 and 127, Ethics and Beauty, p121. Refs: - Lega. Ethique et Beauté au coeur de l'Afrique. Daniel P. Biebuyck. 2002. KBC. - Joyaux Lega de la collection Benoît Rousseau. Viviane Baeke, MRAC et Benoît Rousseau. 2013. BRUNEAF. - A la recherche du sens du Bwami, au fil d'une collection pas comme les autres. Viviane Baeke. Sans date. Musée royal de l'Afrique central. - La sculpture des Lega. Daniel P. Biebuyck. 1994. Galerie Hélène et Philippe Leloup- Paris-New-York. - The arts of Zaïre, Vol II Eastern Zaïre. Daniel P. Biebuyck, 1986, University of California Press. - L'art des Lega d'Afrique centrale, Elizabeth L. Cameron. 2013, Musée du quai Branly. - Lega Culture. Art, Initiation and Moral Philosophy Among a Central African People. Daniel P. Biebuyck. 1973. University of California Press. - Les Lega et leur art. Sur les traces d’un rêveur égaré au Congoland Emile-Alexandre Georges. 2005. Musée royal de l'Afrique centrale. - L'Art Lega - Grandeur et Humilité. Dans la collection Vallois, Valentine Plisnier et Michel Boulanger, 2016 - Sculptures do not speak. The Balega made them speak, Daniel P. Biebuyck Cahiers de littérature orale 67-68: 69-81, 2010