The most culturally civilized kingdom in Africa, the Kuba kingdom, was located between the Kasai and Sankuru rivers in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It was considered one of the most powerful and beautiful civilizations in the 17th to the 20th centuries.
The Kuba kingdom was unaffected by the slave trade, as were many others due to their geographical location. In addition, their geographical location played a major role in their isolation, especially after migrating from the far north to their current location in the 16th century.
The kingdom has been ruled by various Bushoong clan kings with a special interest in one King who ruled from 1919 to 1939, Kot Mabiinc.
According to William Sheppard, an African-American researcher, Kot Mabiinc suffered polio and at the same time overweight. The King used a wheelchair provided by the American Presbyterian Congo Mission (APCM) to serve his people.
The King inspired a slew of prominent Kuba men and women after he professed his Christian faith when many believed in witchcraft, spells, and supernatural powers.
Besides shading some lights in matters spiritual, King Mabiinc abolished the popular practice of burying a deceased king’s servant alongside him. It was believed that the hands and legs of the servants were severed to serve as a cushion for the coffin.
However, the King did not just do away with the practice but gave an alternative. He indicated that sticks of camwood should be used instead.
The Kuba kingdom, which included other tribes such as the Ngongos, Shoowas, Ngombes, Ngeendes, and Bieengs, was considered one of Africa’s artistic peoples during the reign of King Mabiinc.
Kuba was extremely wealthy. He benefited from the advanced techniques from neighboring peoples and the new world crops introduced by the Americas. These resulted in great artistic works being commissioned by the Kuba nobility as early as the 1900s.
Leo Frobenius, a German historian, put it that:
“In 1906, when I penetrated the Kasaï-Sankuru territory, I found again villages of which the main streets were edged on each side with four rows of palm trees for several feet and of which the decorated huts, each in a charming way, were artworks as well.
“No man who did not wear sumptuous iron or copper weapons, blade inlaid with the handle covered with snakeskin.
“Each cup, each pipe, each spoon was an art object perfectly worthy of being compared to the European Roman-style creations…”
Kuba is known for its beautiful textiles made from vegetal fibers, bark, palm tree leaves, and raffia. The village has evolved into Africa’s most artistic and technological indigenous cloth makers.
Women have continued to use cut pile techniques to aggrandize plain clothes that men traditionally weaved.
The Kuba make carved wooden masks and figurines, divination oracles, and headrests besides making beautiful cloth. The artworks are traded both locally and exported to other countries.
Due to the scarcity of textiles and artifacts in the West, Royal Kuba textiles and artifacts are highly sought after by Western collectors.
The artifacts are featured in permanent exhibition halls in major art museums in Brussels, Paris, London, and New York.
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