Dancing the obokano: the sound of a Gusii celebration

Ask any elder to describe a celebration and they will mention the sound first: the deep, buzzing resonance of the obokano, the great bowl lyre of the Gusii. A wooden bowl covered in skin, strung and plucked while the player sings — it is at once instrument, rhythm section and news broadcast.

The photograph here shows dancers in Kisii, feet off the ground in the leaping style of Gusii dance. Such dances followed initiations, harvests and bridewealth ceremonies; the obokano player was both entertainer and archive, carrying genealogies, histories and current affairs in verse.

Skilled players are fewer today, and the instrument is being re-taught in schools and cultural festivals. Our museum holds a representative obokano in the collection, and our events programme schedules live performance so visitors can hear — not just read — what the lyre sounds like.