Between cosmopolitanism and ethnic dissolution: Politics, religion and iconic reappropriation in the cult of the Mother of God of Bisila in Equatorial Guinea and Catalonia

Abstract

ABSTRACT The cult to the Mother of God of Bisila constitutes one of the main events in Bubi’s sacred calendar. The current representation of this traditional feminine spirit, partially identified to the Virgin Mary, stems from the sculpture made by the Modest Gené in 1968, when Equatorial Guinea was still a Spanish colony. The creation of this image formed part of a strategy of evangelization through religious syncretism. Yet, the importance of Bisila is not only religious but mainly political and identity-related: historically, Bisila has symbolised the cultural resistance of Bubi people. Today, the cult of Bisila is undergoing a deep transformation. In Guinea, we witness a strong contrast between the areas in which the cult tends to become an interethnic ceremony and those in which it preserves its marked Bubi character. In Catalonia, Bisila’s followers have strategically adopted a religious narrative based on the ideas of cosmopolitanism and pan-africanism aimed at presenting their cult as an integrative celebration. Based on a multi-situated ethnographic fieldwork, and on an in-depth historical research, this article discusses the tensions between universalism and ethnic singularity that lie within this unexplored cult, through which some of the main conflicts of contemporary Bubi community can be grasped.