The Culture, Traditions, and Heritage of Equatorial Guinea

Equatorial Guinea’s culture in the mainland which includes Rio Muni is heavily entrenched in ancient rituals and songs, and that in Bioko island is influenced by Spanish customs and traditions that were prevalent during the colonial period. Among the known rituals is called abira, which involves music and dance, and is still practiced by Bubi villagers. In this ceremony, a Bubi villager places a pot of water at the entrance of the village with which he asks for protection of the people from good spirits. In remembering the dead, the Bubi villagers place amulets hundreds of meters outside the village, which is a religious ritual performed in combination with certain pagan practices.

Dance and music, which are the central elements of culture, have religious significance to the life of the natives. The traditional music is made through such musical instruments as harp, xylophones, big drums, wooden trumpet, and the sanza, a small thumb piano fashioned from the bamboo.

The country’s architecture exhibits Spanish influence as a number of its buildings are evidently of Spanish colonial style. In the field of arts, native sculpture and mask-making depict crocodiles, lizards and other animals.

The local literature consists of several myths and legends passed on from one generation to the other as a preservation of the history of the tribes. The present-day literature has produced a writer in the person of the late Racquel Ilonde, a Spanish resident of the country, who is known for her published works Ceiba, a poetry collection in 1978, and Leyendas Guineanas, a collection of legends about the country in 1981.

In marriage, the giving of a dowry to the family of the bride is still practiced, with the bride becoming part of the husband’s family after marriage. They are still bound by gender roles that consider women as second-class citizens although they have equal legal rights with men in certain respects.