A Fon/Voodoo fetish figure

A Fon/Voodoo fetish figure, Togo/Benin; Residues of blue and white pigments of kaolin, incrustations due to sacrificing. Certificate of origin and provenance.

"While the term Vodun has been translated by scholars in many ways over time, my sources have suggested that its origins lie in the phrase “rest to draw the water,” from the Fon verbs vo “to rest” anddun “to draw water,” referencing the necessity to remain calm when facing whatever difficulties may lie in one’s path1. According to this Vodun philosophy, life is like a pool that humans find in the world into which we are born. Patience and calm are necessary if we are to effectively draw from the pool of water that defines our lives, if we are to conduct our lives in a manner that will bring one greatest fulfillment. Rather than simply rushing through life, it is incumbent upon one to keep one’s composure and to take the time to “breathe.” Following on the tradition of local women who will sit quietly by the side of the spring or river before collecting the daily water, in Vodun belief one is encouraged to take time for reflection. Like the serene, straight-standing human figure that serves as the base and center of bocio, encumbered often by potent additive materials, one is encouraged in these bocio and Vodun traditions to draw on one’s inner strength and serenity as one pursues one’s course in life...
Suzanne Preston Blier, African Vodun. Art, Psychology, and Power, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1995, p. 39 à 40.- Excerpted from the catalog Vodun: African Voodoo, Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris, 2011.

Height: 52 cm
Weight: 3,7 kg