A woman cares for a carved wooden doll until her own wish comes true.
In Ghana, they tell of a woman named Akua who longed for a baby. A wise carver made her a little wooden doll with a round, moon-shaped face.
Akua cared for it exactly like a real child — she fed it, dressed it and carried it on her back. In time, her wish came true. Ever since, the akua’ba doll has been a symbol of hope across the Akan lands.
The akuaba is one of the best-known dolls of West Africa, carved by the Akan peoples of Ghana and Ivory Coast — its name literally means “Akua’s child.” It has a distinctive flat, disc-shaped head, ringed neck and short outstretched arms, carved from a single piece of wood, often by specialist male carvers.
Women hoping to conceive would traditionally carry an akuaba tucked into their waist-cloth like a real infant, treating it with real maternal care as an act of faith. Today akuaba dolls are held in major museum collections worldwide — including the British Museum and New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art — as one of Africa’s most recognisable art forms.