A Host of Devils

A Host of Devils provides an in-depth account of the background, origin and development of a unique contemporary artistic movement which first emerged during colonial times among the Makonde people who mainly inhabit the Mueda plateau in Cabo Delgado region, Mozambique. Against this background account, which includes detailed analysis of aspects of 'traditional' Makonde visual and performative culture, the book presents a cultural and contextual analysis of the spirit figure sculptures which constitute a major formal type within the movement. The creation of such works is shown to connect with assumptions that underpin a regional system of knowledge and practice, within which spirits function as a format for expression. The book describes the particular ways in which the role of the sculpture emerged among a small group of influential carvers in accordance with foreign patronage and the various factors that influenced the way in which creative abilities were able to develop. The particular aesthetic concerns and creative intentions of two of these carvers are examined in more detail. This original study acknowledges that anthropologists use their bodies as well as their intellects as the primary means with which to investigate social and cultural phenomena. The author's experience of learning how to carve, and the process through which he became a blackwood carver himself, are therefore treated as and essential basis for his interpretation of the blackwook sculpture discussed in the book.