These objects gathered in the Libreville Museum collection bear witness to the techniques, thought processes, social organization, beliefs, some still in existence, some gone forever, of the Gabonese people. Nowadays, masks are becoming more and more a form of art, although they still inspire a respect mixed with fear and the acknowledgement of the sacred and mysterious art of sculpting. They are the concrete representations of men's idea of the spirit. They materialized a spirit taking part in the life of the village, were used as support and life rule and punished those who transgressed the law. The connection between African music songs and oral tradition is extremely strong.
Songs follow the intonations of the spoken language very closely.
This powerful link with the language, which in itself is a kind of melody, is typical of African songs and makes them so different from western melodies. Pygmies rarely sing in unison. They give their music its rhythm by clapping their hands or beating sticks together. The composition of the piece is very precise but allows for a margin of improvisation from the singers. All pygmies are musicians.