Pictures at an Exhibition: Koma Figurines Return to Ghana

Koma exhibition in Accra, Ghana

It is a couple of months since the Koma figurines exhibition Fragmentary Ancestors came to an end at Manchester Museum. That was not the end of the story, however, because after the end of the exhibition in Manchester the figurines were shipped back to Ghana and the exhibition was recreated in the museum in Accra. From there the figurines will travel back to Yikpabongo in Koma Land where they will be displayed for the enjoyment of local people and to stimulate tourism.

You can read a review of the exhibition in the Journal of Museum Ethnography:-

Pole, L. (2014). Fragmentary Ancestors: Figurines from Koma Land, Ghana (Manchester Museum, University of Manchester). Journal of Museum Ethnography 27, 168-174.

Despite the fact that high temperatures typically accelerate DNA damage, and consequently there are only a few previous reports of the recovery of ancient DNA from exposed sites in Sub-Saharan Africa, Professor Terry Brown and PhD student Heather Robinson managed to recover ancient DNA from inside three of the figurines using forensic-style swabs and a magnetic extraction method.

A member of Manchester Museum’s conservation team, Irit Narkiss, accompanied the figurines with a Ghanaian courier and helped re-install the displays. Thanks to the sterling work of Peter Farmer of FDA Design, the graphics were made in such a way that they could be dismantled and travel to the new venue.

Here you can see the dedicated team at Accra Museum installing the figurines in the new displays. Francis, the Ghanaian courrier, tells me that exhibition from June to July 2014 attracted 1,134 and 1,945 visitors respectively. We wish the Ghanaian Museums and Monuments Board every success and we thank them for kindly entrusting the figurines to us for the temporary exhibition at Manchester Museum.

Installation of Koma exhibition in Ghana (courtesy of Mme Irit Narkiss)

Attentive Ancient Worlds blog readers will no doubt recall that the figurines were made by a previously little-understood people in Koma Land in Ghana in West Africa between approximately 500 and 1300 AD.  This corresponds broadly-speaking to the early to mid Medieval Period in Britain.

We don’t know a great deal about how the figurines were used but it would appear that they were used in special ceremonies and rituals in which the spirits of the ancestors were invoked. In the course of these ceremonies the figurines were deliberately broken. The fragments are often found in mounds, possibly because they were felt to have residual power and had to be disposed of carefully.

When they are discovered in the ground the figurines are often fragmentary but depict stylised two-headed creatures, bird figures, and animals. It is thought that they represent the ancestors. It is possible that cavities and channels in the figurines had liquid offerings or libations poured into them, and that some might have been linked with healing and medicine.

Whilst the figurines were in Manchester detailed scanning was carried out to study these channels in detail and to try and identify any substances that might survive in them. Once the presence of substances was confirmed by the scans swabs were taken by researchers at University of Manchester in order to analyse the DNA and identify the nature of the material. This work is at an early stage though I gather the preliminary indications look promising. I hope to report about this in a future blog post.

Sampling Koma figurines before their return to Ghana (photo courtesy of Erin Lemke).

The figurines were discovered during archaeological fieldwork directed by Professor Ben Kankpeyeng (University of Ghana) working with Professor Tim Insoll (University of Manchester) and the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board. The Fragmentary Ancestors exhibition was made possible thanks to generous grants from the Wellcome Trust, the Zochonis Trust  and the Morel Charitable Trust, to all of whom the Museum is very grateful.

 

Fragmentary Ancestors Opening

Opening of the Koma Exhibition at Manchester Museum

Last night saw the opening of Fragmentary Ancestors Figurines from Koma Land exhibition. Over the last few days, with excitement building and staff working feverishly to meet the deadline, there has been a quite a buzz around the Museum. With about an hour to go before the guests started arriving the last banner was hung, the final display case window was secured and the ‘deep’ cleaning carried out.

Horse or camel rider being installed

Alan Seabright the photographer from the Manchester Art Gallery took photographs of the exhibition space, which I have to say, though I have to declare an interest naturally, looks stunning. Peter Farmer’s palette of warm reds and terracotta orange gives the space a a sense of vibrancy that does a lot to dispel the stereotypical image of Africa as a ‘Dark Continent’.

Fragmentary Ancestors exhibition

But it is the figurines, so full of character, and it seems latent power, that dominate the gallery. Some people have compared them to gargoyles but this is to do them a disservice. There is a healthy vitality about them still. They really are spectacular and Alan the technician and Irit from the conservation team have created mounts that show them to best advantage. Personal favourites are the anencephalic head, the horse or camel rider and a piece I refer to fondly as ‘Fungus the Bogeyman’ .

Head of figurine from Koma Land

They are not just inert exhibits they inspire in the viewer a desire to personalise them, to refer to them as people. The figurine with a Mohican is a dead ringer, in my opinion, for Robert de Niro in Taxi Driver! They invite these sorts of comparisons with popular culture and its going to be very interesting over the next six months to see what other comparisons are made.

Are you looking at me?

At the opening Museum Director Dr Nick Merriman, Prof Tim Insoll, Prof Ben Kankpeyeng and Mr Ben Saibu gave short speeches. The latter’s speech was a barn-storming performance that managed to reference Martin Luther King, Olaudah Equiano and Wilfrid Owen.  

Mr Saibu addressing the audience at the opening of the Fragmentary Ancestors exhibition

Prof Kankpeyeng had warned the audience beforehand that the combination of lawyer and politician was a dangerous combination and if the audience’s response was anything to go by, Mr Saibu’s party would have won by a landslide had an election been held on the day of the opening.

Celebrating the Fragmentary Ancestors opening with Mr Saibu, Mrs Aba, Sam and Ben Kankpeyeng

There is a programme of events and activities with a tour of the gallery by Professor Insoll and Professor Kankpeyeng on Saturday and a lecture on Monday afternoon before our Ghanaian guests return home on Tuesday. Fragmentary Ancestors Figurines from Koma Land Ghana can be seen at Manchester Museum  until 5th May 2014. This is the first time the figurines have been shown in the UK with the approval of the Ghanaian authorities.

Fragmentary Ancestors Figurines from Koma Land Exhibition

Head of horse or camel rider from the Fragmentary Ancestors exhibition

With little more than a week to go before we open our new temporary exhibition, Fragmentary Ancestors Figurines from Koma Land Ghana, on 25th October there is a real sense of expectation and anticipation building at Manchester Museum.

Work on this project began about a year ago when it was decided to put on an exhibition featuring the results of archaeological fieldwork in Koma Land in Northern Ghana involving the University of Manchester, the University of Ghana and the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board (GMMB). In May, Sam Sportun, Senior Conservator at Manchester Museum, flew to Ghana to pack a selection of the figurines for exhibition in Manchester. Since that time Prof Tim Insoll and the Ghanaian partners wrote the text for the exhibition and the accompanying  booklet, and FDA Design Ltd designed the new displays.

Head of figurine from Koma Land

This exhibition is the first ever officially approved showing of the clay figurines, which were made by a previously little-understood people in Koma Land in Ghana in West Africa. The figurines are often fragmentary and depict stylised two-headed creatures, bird figures, and animals. They are believed to represent the ancestors. It is possible that some had liquid offerings or libations poured into channels in the figurines, and that some might have been linked with healing and medicine. Scanning is now being carried out to study these channels in detail and to try and identify any substances that survive in them.

Head of man wearing a cap from Koma Land

The figurines were discovered during archaeological fieldwork directed by Professor Ben Kankpeyeng (University of Ghana) working with Professor Tim Insoll (University of Manchester) and the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board (GMMB). The Koma figurines have been dated to between approximately 500 and 1300 AD.  This corresponds broadly-speaking to the early to mid Medieval Period in Britain.

We don’t know a great deal about how the figurines were used but it would appear that they were used in special ceremonies and rituals in which the sprits of the ancestors were invoked. In the course of these ceremonies the figurines were deliberately broken. The fragments are often found in mounds, possibly because they were felt to have residual power and had to be disposed of carefully.

Janus figurine from Koma Land

As will be clear from the photos the figurines are full of character and have tremendous presence. The people who made the figurines were very skilled. For that reason the Koma Land figurines have generated considerable interest amongst collectors on the international art market with the result that the mounds where the figurines are found have been looted by treasure hunters. Of course, once removed from their original contexts and localities and the relationship between the objects as archaeological finds destroyed, a huge amount of invaluable information is lost. The GMMB and the University of Ghana have been working with local people to explain to them the cultural importance of the figurines and to support them in protecting the mounds. Though other figurines have been displayed outside Ghana these are the first to be exhibited abroad with the approval of the Ghanaian authorities. After the exhibition closes the figurines will be put on display at the Museum in Accra in Ghana.

The Fragmentary Ancestors exhibition opens to the general public on 25th October and runs until 5th May 2014.

You can read a review of the exhibition in the Journal of Museum Ethnography:-

Pole, L. (2014). Fragmentary Ancestors: Figurines from Koma Land, Ghana (Manchester Museum, University of Manchester). Journal of Museum Ethnography 27, 168-174.

Alan Seabright took the photographs for the exhibition and exhibition booklet (available price £3.50 from the Museum shop).

Sampling of the Koma Land figurines by Dr Heather Robinson was published in 2017.