Beautiful Kulango Talisman – Hanyedio – Korabohula – Pinio – Ivory Coast

Bronze. Cm. 9,1 high (3.58″); grams 73,5 (2.59 oz.).

These statuettes have ritual and commemorative value. They were used in religious ceremonies, as protective talismans, or to honor ancestors or spirits.

The Kulango people used to refer to such amulets or talismans as “hanyedio”, “korabohula”, or “pinio” . They represent small spirits of the natural world, of forests and waterways.

The Kulango people occupy a region in Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire), that borders Burkina Faso and Ghana. They are part of the Gur people cluster within the Sub-Saharan African affinity bloc. The primary religion practiced by the Kulango is animism, a religious worldview that natural physical entities – including animals, plants, and even inanimate objects – possess a spiritual essence.

“The Kulango from the northern part of Côte d’Ivoire were ruled by a king and elders who directed community life, based around the agricultural calendar. The Kulango were prosperous merchants who practiced animism and resisted attempts to Islamicize their culture” Source: Second Mask, museum of cultural masks.

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