VODOU / VOODOO

Description

The collection of voodoo objects in this volume provides a unique set. It is strong and charged objects that invite us to discover a different cultural universe. Started in 1963 by Marie-Luce and Marc Arbogast according to their African travels, the collection includes nearly 1000 pieces now devolved to cults of West African voodoo deities. It brings together objects related to voodoo practices: divination, ancestor worship, witchcraft and many ceremonies celebrants major stages of life (birth, marriage, initiation, death). Manufactured in Benin, Togo, Nigeria and Ghana in the second half of the twentieth century, these objects are life stories. Fed recent testimony, this reference book lifts the veil on a misunderstood religion without betraying the secret. It will also understand how Vodou, born in the Gulf of Guinea, was codified as we know it today, in its many expressions Africa but also in Brazil, Haiti or Cuba.

More than just a catalog of the museum, the book is intended as a status report on Vodou. This is to discover the process that results in the production of these objects, rituals around them and the various people involved in their creation. In addition to the objects in the collection, some places, pharmacopoeia, portraits in words and images, priests or soothsayers (situation) of lucky charm vendors, mythological stories, background pictures ceremonies (some very secret and rarely reproduced) will enrich the point. The book is meant to live, accessible to publicize voodoo collectors and amateurs and neophytes. Authors (African and Western), historians, literary critics, anthropologists, bring their knowledge and views on the subject.