Angola

A vast Atlantic nation, Angola is the birthplace of semba and kizomba music and home to enduring Bantu crafts.

Music & dance Language & oral Crafts Spirituality & rites Food & cooking

Knowledge in this place

Semba music

Semba music

A lively Luanda dance music that influenced Brazilian samba and Angolan kizomba.

Sona sand drawing

Sona sand drawing

Chokwe geometric sand drawings encoding proverbs, tales and mathematical patterns.

Language & oral

Chokwe masks

Chokwe masks

Carved masks such as the female Mwana Pwo used in initiation dances.

Mukanda initiation

Mukanda initiation

A boys' circumcision and initiation rite shared across the Angola-Zambia borderlands.

Spirituality & rites

Funje and muamba

Funje and muamba

A cassava-flour porridge served with palm-oil chicken stew, the national pairing.