Nfumbi Mpangui

Among the storied Volumen Uno generation of the 1980s, José Bedia has probingly examined Cuban identity through the recuperation and reinvention of diasporic traditions. He has brought an anthropological perspective to bear on Afro-Cuban and indigenous cultures, drawing upon the legacy of Palo Monte, an African religion introduced to the island by Congo slaves, to express a radically hybrid cultural identity. The duality of man and nature is captured by the title of the present work, translated as “Initiated Soul,” and speaks to the synergies between human, spiritual, and animal beings that are central to Palo belief. The mythical being portrayed in Nfumbi Mpangui harnesses the cosmic powers of the earth, seen in the roots that spread across the center of its body and its arms. The shimmering blue pigment, highlighted against the dark-green ground, suggestively evokes the essence of universal man, his body inscribed—literally cut by series of knives—with animals and signs that convey the spiritual energy of the world.

Text credit: Produced in collaboration with the University of Maryland Department of Art History & Archaeology and by Gavvyn Flores