Tchicheri Sakwa, Moba

Tchicheri Sakwa, Bimowba (Savannah region, Togo)

The Bimowba live in the mountains surrounding Dapang (northern Togo) and are among the few people in West Africa who still proudly and diligently maintain their beliefs and way of life. Farmers and occasional hunters, they fervently believe that the only way to access their distant and apathetic deities is through their ancestors. These ancestors are, therefore, the messengers of the desires of a people who cling to traditions that others have ended up abandoning.
The Bimowba also believe that the three types of ancestors they know (the relatives or Yendú, the founders of the village or Bawoong, and the founders of the Moba people or Sakwa) can only be invoked at sunset, when the sun approaches the horizon and The distance between the world of the living and the world of the dead is shortened.
Each Yendu, Bawoong or Sakwaa is represented by a wooden figure called Tchitcheri, which during the sunset ceremony will act as a receptacle for the invoked spirit.
The Bimowba believe that the shadow is another part of the soul. For this reason, and thinking about the well-being of their ancestors, their Tchitcheri must have the shape of the ancestor's shadow at sunset. That's why they are so elongated and elegant.
At Black Market we have several Tchicheri, but the one we now offer you is a large Sakwa carved in heavy wood. Sold with iron support.

Height: 141cm; Weight: 31.7 kg