Northwest Radiology recently used the Meridian North Imaging Center CT scanner to assist conservators from the Indianapolis Museum of Art to learn more about the internal structures of five African power figures.
The power statues are also called Nkisi and were created by the Songye people of the Democratic Republic of Congo nearly a century ago. The statues were made by priests and used in war and fertility rituals. The powers of the Nkisi were enhanced when different items were placed inside of them.
Conservators at the IMA were interested to see the interior of their power statues without breaking them open. A CT scan allowed them to do this.
For more information read the Indianapolis Star’s April 19th front page coverage of this important scanning, and be sure to check out the video reconstruction of the actual CT scanning of one of the African power figures.
