Topic: I am looking for a Mogongo and a Ngombi harp

[holybark]

Who can I contact to aquire these instruments?: Mogongo and a Ngombi harp.  I would super duper appreciate any help.

[Iboga Panacea]

Difficult.  Contacting Tatayo @ Ebando and seeing if anyone in your country is going there for initiation is a possibility.  Other possibility is the contact the artist Ben Taylor on FB and ask him. 

[holybark]

difficult indeed. thanks for the info.

[Iboga Panacea]

What I really don't understand (please forgive my ignorance) is Ebando/Tatayo/Yann Guignon are always complaining about running out of Iboga and saying they don't have money to buy it...

YET...

They refuse to sell Iboga SEEDS, and are very reluctant to sell Ngombi's and Mougongo's.  I mean on the cultural artifacts alone from the Bwiti and Gabon they could raise size able income alone and yet they don't act on it.  They even make it look like you can purchase via Ebando but then when you check it they don't want to.  A serious WTF???

None of my business I guess but I'd sure like to make it a business. 

[samyama]

Hey.... does anyone know how they can be constructed? It doesn't look like something you need to be a master carpentor for... I've been looking on the web, thusfar no find on how to construct one.

I really like to have my own instruments, yes 

[shantivibes]

We here in our community want to build our bwiti inside and out. This means having the Mogongo and a Ngombi at our disposal to learn to work with via the sacrament. For now we are working on building our own Mogongo to start with. I asked my brother who plays Mogongo for instructions and this was his response.

"If you can get the materials. For the arc, you need a supple new growth hardwood, 2 or 3 seasons old. Have to cut it fresh, shape it. The string is rattan material. the m'basso you can make from a bamboo, I think." ~ Bovenga

Hope this helps!
Basse!

[Iboga Panacea]

http://www.danmoi.com/rattan-string-mouth-bow-african-style.html

For Ngombi I guess one needs to contact...

https://www.facebook.com/bovenga.namuduma

On facebook, can get Mougongo from Gabon too but it would be much easier to just get from the link provided. 

[lbark]

Wowza KP, you never cease to impress on your search skills.
That Kambo really does allow you to find what you seek.

I would like to buy one of these mougongos soon

http://www.danmoi.com/rattan-string-mouth-bow-african-style.html

For Ngombi I guess one needs to contact...

https://www.facebook.com/bovenga.namuduma

On facebook, can get Mougongo from Gabon too but it would be much easier to just get from the link provided.

[holybark]

Holy wow! Thank you so much!

[RhythmSpring]

Would buying and playing this instrument, as a white dude who's never physically been to Africa, be cultural appropriation or disrespectful in any way?

[Iboga Panacea]

If you feel it is disrespectful than I guess so, then again I don't measure my skin color by definitions of white or black but the many gradients of sun exposure gifts.  I have never been to Gabon but learned how to play from watching the youtube videos, others seem to be entertained by it when I play. 

[RhythmSpring]

That didn't really answer my question. If I feel it is disrespectful then it is? I don't know if it is... I'd like to hear maybe from people who are, or have spoken to, people from around Gabon.

[Iboga Panacea]

Easy to find them on Facebook.   I think that because you have the question and think that it could be disrespectful that for you it is not proper.  But for me it makes total sense.  How could I answer your question as I am not you?  Just like I've always been drawn to Africa and feel completely at home with it's vibes and music but someone else might find it foreign.  To me the Mougongo is the epitome of the African vibe and the perfect tool for enhancing Iboga or Ayahuasca.  I also find it very fitting as it makes frog like reverberations which goes well for the Kambo ceremonies. 

[RhythmSpring]

Anyone else?

[DiamondHeart]

With Iboga, intention and respect is paramount. So, I would imagine you could easily apply those same criteria to an instrument that is so strongly associated with Iboga.

If your intention is wholesome, I see no harm in playing such an instrument. Is it disrespectful for whites to play the Sitar? I don't think so....

If I feel it is disrespectful then it is? I don't know if it is...

I wouldn't feel comfortable doing something if I thought it was disrespectful regardless of whether or not someone else whose opinion I valued on the matter told me it was OK. Ultimately we're answerable to ourselves are we not? ( a thought that would be good to consider in another thread that is hot on this forum at the moment..!!)