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Art of the Lega at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Initiation basket and contents. Plant fiber, wood, ivory, animal teeth, animal horn and buttons. Height: 13-3/8 in.
UCLA Fowler Museum of History. Promised gift of Jay T. Last. Photo by Don Cole.
Initiation basket and contents. Plant fiber, wood, ivory, animal teeth, animal horn and buttons. Height: 13-3/8 in.

Art of the Lega: Meaning and Metaphor in Central Africa opened in October at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. For the Lega peoples of the Democratic Republic of Congo - - art is used as a teaching tool for an adult initiation society called Bwami. An exhibit at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art takes the viewer through the Bwami initiation process, showing how a Lega initiate would learn the meanings behind art objects. The nearly 200 works in the exhibit are all part of one man?s collection of African art?as KCUR?s Laura Spencer reports.
Art of the Lega: Meaning and Metaphor in Central Africa opened in October at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

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