Going up to the first floor, you can enter the fascinating diversity of a continent whose cultural richness we are still beginning to discover, a region of the world in which over a thousand different cultural groups coexist in two large geographical areas: the North, where the imprint of Islam has profoundly determined its cultural development, and the equatorial and tropical regions of the centre and south of the continent.
As in all cultures, clothes in African cultures also reflect social status, ideological systems and the geographical medium in which people live. Certain ornaments are associated with the social prestige of their wearer, or act as a protective element from various evils, as is the case of Moroccan jewellery. Although we find African clothes attractive because of their exoticism, we shouldn't forget that they are full of symbolic meanings.
African cultures are pure rhythm, the rhythm of life. Almost all of them have a varied repertoire of rites marking the stages of the life cycle, in which music and dance play a fundamental role. Instruments like the ones we have on exhibition are used to accompany the songs, which are cultural heritage transmitters. Games vary from zone to zone, but the most widespread in all Equatorial Africa is akong, songo or awelé. This game reproduces the social life of any village: the rows of the game board correspond to the two parallel rows of huts in which many of them are arranged.
In many cultures of Equatorial Africa, like Guinea, animist religion dedicated to ancestors is reflected in the production of figurative sculptures. The museum's collection of Fang culture byeris (relic guardians) is very important in this context. But animals and many natural phenomena also have a soul. The Pende culture in the Congo pays tribute to them in their dances and rites of passage in which the dancers are transformed by impressive clothes and masks. This is undoubtedly one of the museum's most interesting corners, which you mustn't miss.
Until a short time ago, many African societies were nomadic or at least moved between different settlements according to the change of season, migration of different animal species, and the greater or lesser abundance of basic survival resources. So in African homes, portable, multi-purpose objects predominate. As well as their utilitarian value, many of these objects conceal social and symbolic meanings. For example, chairs and spoons were symbols of prestige, which could only be used by the most important people in each group or family.
Going up to the first floor, you can enter the fascinating diversity of a continent whose cultural richness we are still beginning to discover, a region of the world in which over a thousand different cultural groups coexist in two large geographical areas: the North, where the imprint of Islam has profoundly determined its cultural development, and the equatorial and tropical regions of the centre and south of the continent.
As in all cultures, clothes in African cultures also reflect social status, ideological systems and the geographical medium in which people live. Certain ornaments are associated with the social prestige of their wearer, or act as a protective element from various evils, as is the case of Moroccan jewellery. Although we find African clothes attractive because of their exoticism, we shouldn't forget that they are full of symbolic meanings.
African cultures are pure rhythm, the rhythm of life. Almost all of them have a varied repertoire of rites marking the stages of the life cycle, in which music and dance play a fundamental role. Instruments like the ones we have on exhibition are used to accompany the songs, which are cultural heritage transmitters. Games vary from zone to zone, but the most widespread in all Equatorial Africa is akong, songo or awelé. This game reproduces the social life of any village: the rows of the game board correspond to the two parallel rows of huts in which many of them are arranged.
In many cultures of Equatorial Africa, like Guinea, animist religion dedicated to ancestors is reflected in the production of figurative sculptures. The museum's collection of Fang culture byeris (relic guardians) is very important in this context. But animals and many natural phenomena also have a soul. The Pende culture in the Congo pays tribute to them in their dances and rites of passage in which the dancers are transformed by impressive clothes and masks. This is undoubtedly one of the museum's most interesting corners, which you mustn't miss.
Until a short time ago, many African societies were nomadic or at least moved between different settlements according to the change of season, migration of different animal species, and the greater or lesser abundance of basic survival resources. So in African homes, portable, multi-purpose objects predominate. As well as their utilitarian value, many of these objects conceal social and symbolic meanings. For example, chairs and spoons were symbols of prestige, which could only be used by the most important people in each group or family.
Going up to the first floor, you can enter the fascinating diversity of a continent whose cultural richness we are still beginning to discover, a region of the world in which over a thousand different cultural groups coexist in two large geographical areas: the North, where the imprint of Islam has profoundly determined its cultural development, and the equatorial and tropical regions of the centre and south of the continent.
As in all cultures, clothes in African cultures also reflect social status, ideological systems and the geographical medium in which people live. Certain ornaments are associated with the social prestige of their wearer, or act as a protective element from various evils, as is the case of Moroccan jewellery. Although we find African clothes attractive because of their exoticism, we shouldn't forget that they are full of symbolic meanings.
African cultures are pure rhythm, the rhythm of life. Almost all of them have a varied repertoire of rites marking the stages of the life cycle, in which music and dance play a fundamental role. Instruments like the ones we have on exhibition are used to accompany the songs, which are cultural heritage transmitters. Games vary from zone to zone, but the most widespread in all Equatorial Africa is akong, songo or awelé. This game reproduces the social life of any village: the rows of the game board correspond to the two parallel rows of huts in which many of them are arranged.
In many cultures of Equatorial Africa, like Guinea, animist religion dedicated to ancestors is reflected in the production of figurative sculptures. The museum's collection of Fang culture byeris (relic guardians) is very important in this context. But animals and many natural phenomena also have a soul. The Pende culture in the Congo pays tribute to them in their dances and rites of passage in which the dancers are transformed by impressive clothes and masks. This is undoubtedly one of the museum's most interesting corners, which you mustn't miss.
Until a short time ago, many African societies were nomadic or at least moved between different settlements according to the change of season, migration of different animal species, and the greater or lesser abundance of basic survival resources. So in African homes, portable, multi-purpose objects predominate. As well as their utilitarian value, many of these objects conceal social and symbolic meanings. For example, chairs and spoons were symbols of prestige, which could only be used by the most important people in each group or family.
Going up to the first floor, you can enter the fascinating diversity of a continent whose cultural richness we are still beginning to discover, a region of the world in which over a thousand different cultural groups coexist in two large geographical areas: the North, where the imprint of Islam has profoundly determined its cultural development, and the equatorial and tropical regions of the centre and south of the continent.
As in all cultures, clothes in African cultures also reflect social status, ideological systems and the geographical medium in which people live. Certain ornaments are associated with the social prestige of their wearer, or act as a protective element from various evils, as is the case of Moroccan jewellery. Although we find African clothes attractive because of their exoticism, we shouldn't forget that they are full of symbolic meanings.
African cultures are pure rhythm, the rhythm of life. Almost all of them have a varied repertoire of rites marking the stages of the life cycle, in which music and dance play a fundamental role. Instruments like the ones we have on exhibition are used to accompany the songs, which are cultural heritage transmitters. Games vary from zone to zone, but the most widespread in all Equatorial Africa is akong, songo or awelé. This game reproduces the social life of any village: the rows of the game board correspond to the two parallel rows of huts in which many of them are arranged.
In many cultures of Equatorial Africa, like Guinea, animist religion dedicated to ancestors is reflected in the production of figurative sculptures. The museum's collection of Fang culture byeris (relic guardians) is very important in this context. But animals and many natural phenomena also have a soul. The Pende culture in the Congo pays tribute to them in their dances and rites of passage in which the dancers are transformed by impressive clothes and masks. This is undoubtedly one of the museum's most interesting corners, which you mustn't miss.
Until a short time ago, many African societies were nomadic or at least moved between different settlements according to the change of season, migration of different animal species, and the greater or lesser abundance of basic survival resources. So in African homes, portable, multi-purpose objects predominate. As well as their utilitarian value, many of these objects conceal social and symbolic meanings. For example, chairs and spoons were symbols of prestige, which could only be used by the most important people in each group or family.
Going up to the first floor, you can enter the fascinating diversity of a continent whose cultural richness we are still beginning to discover, a region of the world in which over a thousand different cultural groups coexist in two large geographical areas: the North, where the imprint of Islam has profoundly determined its cultural development, and the equatorial and tropical regions of the centre and south of the continent.
As in all cultures, clothes in African cultures also reflect social status, ideological systems and the geographical medium in which people live. Certain ornaments are associated with the social prestige of their wearer, or act as a protective element from various evils, as is the case of Moroccan jewellery. Although we find African clothes attractive because of their exoticism, we shouldn't forget that they are full of symbolic meanings.
African cultures are pure rhythm, the rhythm of life. Almost all of them have a varied repertoire of rites marking the stages of the life cycle, in which music and dance play a fundamental role. Instruments like the ones we have on exhibition are used to accompany the songs, which are cultural heritage transmitters. Games vary from zone to zone, but the most widespread in all Equatorial Africa is akong, songo or awelé. This game reproduces the social life of any village: the rows of the game board correspond to the two parallel rows of huts in which many of them are arranged.
In many cultures of Equatorial Africa, like Guinea, animist religion dedicated to ancestors is reflected in the production of figurative sculptures. The museum's collection of Fang culture byeris (relic guardians) is very important in this context. But animals and many natural phenomena also have a soul. The Pende culture in the Congo pays tribute to them in their dances and rites of passage in which the dancers are transformed by impressive clothes and masks. This is undoubtedly one of the museum's most interesting corners, which you mustn't miss.
Until a short time ago, many African societies were nomadic or at least moved between different settlements according to the change of season, migration of different animal species, and the greater or lesser abundance of basic survival resources. So in African homes, portable, multi-purpose objects predominate. As well as their utilitarian value, many of these objects conceal social and symbolic meanings. For example, chairs and spoons were symbols of prestige, which could only be used by the most important people in each group or family.
Going up to the first floor, you can enter the fascinating diversity of a continent whose cultural richness we are still beginning to discover, a region of the world in which over a thousand different cultural groups coexist in two large geographical areas: the North, where the imprint of Islam has profoundly determined its cultural development, and the equatorial and tropical regions of the centre and south of the continent.
As in all cultures, clothes in African cultures also reflect social status, ideological systems and the geographical medium in which people live. Certain ornaments are associated with the social prestige of their wearer, or act as a protective element from various evils, as is the case of Moroccan jewellery. Although we find African clothes attractive because of their exoticism, we shouldn't forget that they are full of symbolic meanings.
African cultures are pure rhythm, the rhythm of life. Almost all of them have a varied repertoire of rites marking the stages of the life cycle, in which music and dance play a fundamental role. Instruments like the ones we have on exhibition are used to accompany the songs, which are cultural heritage transmitters. Games vary from zone to zone, but the most widespread in all Equatorial Africa is akong, songo or awelé. This game reproduces the social life of any village: the rows of the game board correspond to the two parallel rows of huts in which many of them are arranged.
In many cultures of Equatorial Africa, like Guinea, animist religion dedicated to ancestors is reflected in the production of figurative sculptures. The museum's collection of Fang culture byeris (relic guardians) is very important in this context. But animals and many natural phenomena also have a soul. The Pende culture in the Congo pays tribute to them in their dances and rites of passage in which the dancers are transformed by impressive clothes and masks. This is undoubtedly one of the museum's most interesting corners, which you mustn't miss.
Until a short time ago, many African societies were nomadic or at least moved between different settlements according to the change of season, migration of different animal species, and the greater or lesser abundance of basic survival resources. So in African homes, portable, multi-purpose objects predominate. As well as their utilitarian value, many of these objects conceal social and symbolic meanings. For example, chairs and spoons were symbols of prestige, which could only be used by the most important people in each group or family.