A drum that speaks

Abstract

This photographic essay presents material and findings from a documentation project on the gugu (slit drum) carried out in Western Equatoria State of South Sudan between 2021 and 2023. These wooden drums, which can stand up to five feet high, are often carved into elaborate zoomorphic designs. They are used in dances, as a means of communication and increasingly in Christian worship. They embody the social center of many Zande communities. Their production takes several months to complete and requires a hardwood tree and specialist knowledge of several traditional carving implements. We commissioned a carver, Elia Magas Mboriundo, to make a gugu and allow us to film its process of creation from start to finish. As part of gathering information, we also interviewed elders about their knowledge of the gugu and the changes they had observed in their lifetimes. We wanted to explore the impact of war and displacement on the material knowledge of the gugu over the last hundred years.