Photo credit: Thierry Boudjekeu

DESCRIPTION

This station explores the material and spiritual tools employed in the pursuit and capture of enslaved individuals. Among them, Fa, a revered geomantic practice in the Gulf of Benin, held deep significance. It played a crucial role in rituals such as the Tree of Oblivion ritual in Ouidah, where captives were made to walk around the tree seven times. This ritual was believed to sever their connection to their ancestral spirits, symbolising a forced rupture from their past and paving the way for their transition into bondage.

LITERARY EXCERPT: La Saison de l’ombre, 2013, by Léonora Miano

Now landless and deprived of both their spiritual leader and their chief, the Mulongo will become the most easily subjugated captives ever seen. Scattered across the vast Bwélé territory, they will soon lose their language and be unable to rebuild the cohesion of their group, whose very name will vanish. Assimilated by the Bwélé, they will henceforth exist as a submissive caste, destined for trade. (p.179)