Explore Vibrant Exhibits with Refugee and Immigrant Guides at Penn Museum in Philadelphia
The divination basket rests in the climate-controlled quiet of the Penn Museum in Philadelphia, half a world from the tropical heat of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It’s plain-looking, the sort of artifact visitors rush past while searching for more charismatic holdings, like the 13-ton granite Sphinx that guards the entrance hall. However, as a child in the DRC capital of Kinshasa, Penn Museum guide Clay Katongo saw the power of baskets like this one in the hands of practitioners calling themselves diviners or, sometimes, prophets.