FANG - GABON, CAMEROON

The Fang of Gabon migrated from the north-west during the 18th and 19th centuries and are now scattered across southern Cameroon, and Gabon.  Principally hunters, they do also farm however.

Their social structure is bases on the clan, a group of individuals with a common ancestor , and on the family.

The Fang are famous for their Byeri heads and figures, these were made for the Byeri, a family cult that venerated important ancestors by preserving their remains in containers made of bark that was stitched together to form a cylindrical box.  Ancestral status was awarded to founders of lineages, heads of clans and families and women that displayed extraordinary powers, such as the ability to bear a unusual number of children.  The essential remains of these ancestors was their skulls, however at times, bones from the limbs and vertebrae were preserved as well.  These Fang reliquary carving served as a shield between the relics and possible destructive force, as sort of guardian. It protected both the remains of the ancestor from intruders and malevolent supernatural forces and vulnerable humans such as the uninitiated, women and non-family members from the potentially dangerous ancestors.  Only initiated men of the family clan were permitted to see the relics.  During one of the byeri rituals, known a melan, young initiates were given hallucinogenic herbs and presented with figural statues as symbolic invocations of their ancestors. By doing so, statues were used to animate the deceased and to actualize the presence of the clan ancestors.  When these statues were removed from the ancestral remains, however, they function only as symbols and no longer as direct receptacles for the spirit.

The masks of the Ngil society were typically elongated and covered with the white pigment of kaolin clay, which is considered by the Fang as the color of the dead or spirits. The Ngil association existed over and above the clan, wielding political and judicial powers.  The masters of the Ngil society moved freely and without danger from village to village as their role as peace-keepers was boldly recognized.  They were considered particularly useful in combating sorcery and evil practices.  When a Ngil master was summoned to a village he would arrive at night, dressed in a raffia costume and mask, with a group of followers carrying torched, thus adding to the dramatic effect of the mask.

FANG SCULPTURE

For a long time, the Fang were in at state of constant migration, only living a few years in each place they settled, thus they learned to adapt to their surrounding pretty well. Living largely in the equatorial forests, they made use of wood, bamboo and plant fibers in their sculpture.

The Fang people had an oral tradition, keeping their customs, beliefs and symbols to memory.  These customs and beliefs were passed on from generation to generation with the ancestors playing a large part in the daily rituals of these people. Their bodies were decorated with tattooed and scarification symbols as well as adorned with jewelery, ornaments and headdresses, that linked the living to the dead.  These symbols were present in their homes in the form of drawings and paintings, on their weaponry as well as on their sculpture.

A large number of explorers that traveled through Fang occupied territories in the nineteenth century didn't notice the biyema byeri ancestor figures, or even the dance masks that ultimately made these people famous.  The byeri were kept hidden in dark huts, and the masks were not inclined to be danced when the white explorers were present.

Reference:

African: Art of a Continent - Tom Phillips.  ISBN:3-7913-2004-1

African Form and Imagery - Detroit institue of Arts.  ISBN: 0-89558-145-0

Tribal Arts of Africa -Jaques-baptise Baquart.  ISBN:0-500-28231-5

Visions of Africa: Fang - Loius Perrois ISBN: 88-7439-295-8