Oubliette :: Lukasa (Memory Boards)

Okay, so I was spying on the activities of The Kircher Society AGAIN. So what! How I secure exhibits for the museum is really no one's business but mine, thank you very much. When I saw that they had a new exhibit about memory -- and, more to the point, about memory technologies, my own special interest -- I knew that we had to have it for the Oubliette. So I went out and found my own lukasa. These beautiful objects:

"are hand-held wooden objects that present a conceptual map of fundamental aspects of Luba culture. They are at once illustrations of the Luba political system, historical chronicles of the Luba state, and territorial diagrams of local chiefdoms. Each board's design is unique and represents the divine revelations of a spirit medium expressed in sculptural form...Lukasa belong to regional chapters of the Luba mbudye association.

Mbudye is a council of men and women charged with sustaining and interpreting the political and historical principles of the Luba state. As authorities on the tenets of Luba society, mbudye provide a counterbalance to the power of kings and chiefs, checking or reinforcing it as necessary. Members of mbudye proceed through a series of stages within the society as they master successive levels of arcane knowledge. Only those at the apex of the association can decipher and interpret the lukasa's intricate designs and motifs."

See the original post from the Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society >>
Lots of interesting information and pictures @ the Met Museum >>
Brief posting at the Dead Media Society >>
As a basis for a Black design aesthetic: Towards an Autochthonic Black Aesthetic for Graphic Design Pedagogy >>