Bateba divination figure. Lobi culture, Burkina Faso, early 20th century.

Bateba divination figure. Lobi culture, Burkina Faso, early 20th century.
Wood.
Measurements: 15,3 cm height.

These carved wooden sculptures, known as bateba in the Lobi culture, represent anthropomorphic figures or animals that serve as spiritual intermediaries and protectors of the community.

Bateba are usually carved in wood and can vary in size and style, although they all share common characteristics: static postures and solemn expressions, reflecting their sacred role. Bateba are placed in shrines and are used by thila, or nature spirits, to communicate with humans through divination rituals. Spiritual leaders, known as diviners or healers, interact with these figures in ceremonies to seek guidance, protection or to solve problems within the community. Each sculpture has a specific function and is believed to possess a spirit or energy of its own. For example, some bateba protect against disease, while others protect against witchcraft or the evil eye. These figures are activated through rituals and prayers that invoke the help of spirits to intervene in the lives of devotees.

The Lobi live in southwestern Burkina Faso and northeastern Ivory Coast. They are mainly farmers, and their arts include sculpture, which is now widely collected. This is partly because Lobi carvings display the kind of formal strength that collectors of African art admire, theirs being a synthetic language of great compositional rigor. Each Lobi man considers himself a potential artist, so a great diversity of styles has emerged over time, from hard, stylized, near-abstract languages to naturalistic, polished ones. In the past, the Lobi were well known as a people who resisted any form of political authority imposed from outside their communities.