The Baga people dwelt around the marshy lagoons of the coastal region of Guinea-Bissau. Due to the nature of their climate, for six months of the year their land was flooded. In order to survive and prosper, the women of the villages would plant rice in the swampy areas created by their Mother Earth. The female element of nature heightened the female figure and form to a position of admiration and reverence. Baga ceremonies and rituals connect with this theme of fertility and maternity and have created such magnificent artworks as this passionate and lively drum.

The belly of the drum is decorated with serpents moving sinuously in a circle. These serpents represent the fertility of the land for the Baga people. Below the belly of the drum is a kneeling female figure. The artist has endowed this youthful beauty with a voluptuous form and a timeless sense of dignity and grace.
Her presence is coupled with the ceremonial regalia adorned upon her. Her coiffed hair, necklace, and armbands identify her as an object of beauty and devotion. The superb artistry that captured this fertile woman has captured for an eternity her magical presence. We cannot pay witness to the magical ceremonies once performed with this drum; however, we can admire the eternal life captured within the form of this awe-inspiring woman. We stand before her and she is motionless, yet we still feel the vibrations of the drum and its timeless beat.