Igbo Deity Figure (Alusi)

Situated southeast of the River Niger in Nigeria, Africa is the Igbo region, where an egalitarian culture without chiefs or kings, known as the Igbo live. Unlike other nearby communities in the region, status and prestige are attained by merit rather than being attributed to birth. The Igbo are known for their ornamental objects and diverse artistic skills, such as their sculptural wood carvings in the likeness of deities, cultural heroes and ancestors. These supernatural beings known as alusi may be petitioned for the overall happiness of the Igbo community, its members and environs. 

Alusi typically have extravagant hairstyles, abdominal and facial scarification, and tattoo patterns that signify marks of beauty and high rank in the Igbo community. Signature traits include  stiff legs slightly separated, arms apart on each side of the body, and forearms extended forward with palms up to signify the deity’s willingness to receive offerings, as well as its generosity to ensure success and happiness of the community. Because carvings of alusi are relatively homogenous, it isn’t possible to determine which deity the figure in the Bowers’ collection represents by studying its appearance alone.

The carved figures are kept within a village’s shrine building where they are arranged against the shrine’s wall. As the number of alusi accumulates within the shrine, so does their power and dynamism, and by extension the village’s well-being. During annual festivals, freshly painted alusi are paraded throughout the village underscoring unification and stability of the community.