Human world
Mask
Follow the links in the navigation panel to see some of the Gabon collection.
The peoples of the tropical rainforests of Gabon didn’t settle in one place for long. Their social life was largely regulated by initiation associations and ancestor ‘cults’ that functioned without powerful rulers. Although missionaries largely destroyed their ancestor cults, most groups still retain rich oral, musical and masquerade traditions.
Coastal peoples like the Mpongwe tried to monopolise the trade between Europeans and inland groups. They told Europeans exaggerated stories about the savagery and cannibalism of the Fang. Yet, missionaries’ and explorers’ first accounts of the Fang from the 1840s and 50s contradicted these stories. The missionaries admired the physical bearing, health and apparent virtues of the Fang they met with and feared the effects that the ‘vices of civilisation’ would have on these ‘noble savages’. The Fang moved steadily towards the coast to trade with Europeans throughout the 19th century.