Bena luluwa Mother and Child figure

Among the Luluwa Bena, the Bwanga bwa Cibola aided women, members in this fertility cult whose babies were stillborn or died in infancy. During pregnancy a woman is isolated for a specified period as imposed by the cult to commission a figure from a sculptor. The isolation ends, upon delivery of the figure. She has to keep the figure in a basket near her bed, and regularly rubs it with oil and a paste, brought out on nights with full moon, a symbol of fertility. This maternity figure is carved with detailed scarification, functions more symbolically rather aesthetically," as without a beautiful skin - one is considered evil". Thus the oily "healthy skin" of a figure must achieved by the woman to ensure the moral and physical integrity of her newborn child. (R. Sieber & R. A. Walker 1987:43).