Slit Gong

Dan Slit Gong /Drum (Janus-Side B)

NE Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire
Dan

Wood
ca. Mid-20th century

Height: 22 inches
Idiophone - Struck Directly - Slit Gong

Dan janus slit gong/drum with beater, collect by Peace Core Worker in the early 1960s. Such slit gongs were used by a diviner during the divination process. The diviner uses a wooden beater to produce sounds that accompany his trance or oracle. Diviners among the Dan, after having completed a long and complex process of becoming a fully qualified Diviner, would have figures carved for them to be used during a divination to serve as contacts with the spirits of the bush. (See Side A)

Owner:
Catalog#: AF-IDST-121-17

© Hartenberger World Music Collection