The Sculpture better known as the “Pensador” (Thinker) was merited, at the 1st Symposium on National Culture, held in 1984, as the symbol of Angolan Culture. This sculpture represents the “Kuku” (aged or old) or the “Samanyonga” (one who meditates, reflects or thinks) and is inspired by the Humba Côkwe which is characteristics of the many objects found in a fortune-tellers basket (Ngomba ya Cisuka/Tchisuka).
Many national pieces of literature have referred to the magical function of this type of “mahamaba” or fortune-telling. In truth the Samanyonga of the Côkwe people (in the East of Angola) represents a theme that involves the world of the “secret societies” , for all the hambas have the missions of doing, during their fortune-telling (thahi), the bidding of those ancestors called upon.
