Big round mask "kifwebe" ·  D. R. Congo, Luba · ID: 3035882

Description

wood, kaolin, red and black paint, animal hair, of hollowed round form, narrow slit eyes, entirely coated with curved concentrical grooves, old collection label backside, pierced around the rim, min. dam., small missing parts, slight traces of abrasion, base;
such masks were danced at the death of a chief or other eminent person, or when a person assumed an important political title. The etymology of “kifwebe” is “to chase away or put to flight, death”. Such a sense would be appropriate to a further context for their use: in the rituals of the “kazanzi” society, through which sorcery is confronted and eliminated from the community. Complex costumes of animal skins and raffia were worn, and the masks were danced in couples, one representing the male spirit, the other a female. One surmises that the masks were performed to mark moments of important social transition and transformation.

Comparing literature

Roberts, Mary Nooter, Memory, New York 1996, p. 86 f. Nooter Roberts, Mary, Luba, Mailand 2007, ill. 21 Neyt, Francois, Luba, Aan de Bronnen van de Zaire, Paris 1994, p. 203