Benge

Benge is the 'Poison Oracle' used by the Azande of Central Africa, mainly in Southern Sudan, in which a decision is determined by whether or not a fowl survives being administered a poison. The outcome of the oracle can be taken as law in certain circumstances when a Zande Chief is present. The practice is increasingly rare since colonial times.

The Azande Tribe believed that witchcraft was inherited and grew with age. To tribe members, everyday ailments or events could be explained by witchcraft. Enchantments were gender specific, meaning that a woman could only bewitch another woman and a man could only bewitch another man. If someone was ill, they would go to an oracle who would feed poison to a chicken. If the chicken died after the name of a certain tribe member was called, then that person was considered the witch. Azande believed people could be witches without knowing it, and once the tribe member learned he or she was a witch they would stop unknowingly cursing the other members of their tribe with bad thoughts.

Benge (musician)

Benge is the artist name of Ben Edwards (born 1967), a musician and producer based in London, England. The main focus of his work is within the experimental electronic music field.

Solo career

He launched the record label Expanding Records as an outlet for his debut album Electro-orgoustic Music in 1995. The label, which focuses on instrumental electronic music, continued to grow and now has a roster of approximately 20 artists from around the world. He also runs a music studio called Play Studios in London which houses a large collection of vintage electronic synthesisers and other recording equipment.

In 2008 Benge released his tenth studio album Twenty Systems, a concept album which featured twenty tracks made on twenty different synthesisers between the years 1968 - 1988 and an accompanying book describing the instruments and the development of the synthesiser in general. The album was called 'a brilliant contribution to the archaeology of electronic music' by Brian Eno.

Benge (disambiguation)

Benge may refer to:

People

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