Projects

The ocihumba is a pluriarc chordophone of African origin, documented for five hundred years in the Kingdom of Congo, and still known in Angola today. However, it is on the verge of extinction in the country, with few living masters remaining. It is known that the instrument was brought to Brazil during the period of slavery, where its use was depicted in 19th-century naturalist paintings, but it does not seem to have survived to the present day. In Portugal, the instrument is found in ethnographic collections from the recent colonial period, housed in museums.
The project "Musical Lives of the Ocihumba: Study and Revival of an Angolan Chordophone" aims to contribute to the preservation of this instrument, study its characteristics and sound dimension, and, from an ethnographic perspective, its active contexts of oral tradition in Angola. Additionally, the project seeks to promote the ocihumba and stimulate historical and musical knowledge through actions that encourage new creative explorations with the instrument