Festus Toll

An exploration of the disruption caused by colonial looting of art.

The story of how the mysterious power statue of Chief Ne Kuko was stolen should not be forgotten. Trapped behind glass, this nkisi resides in an European museum far away from his Congolese home. In THE STORY OF NE KUKO, the voice of an ancestor brings the nkisi's past to life. The history behind the statue links restitution activist Mwazulu Diyabanza, whose mission is to return African objects to their homeland, to the small village of Kikuku in the mountains of Boma, Democratic Republic of Congo. The true meaning of Ne Kuko's sculpture unfolds.