Janusfaced helmet mask "ibulu lya alunga" or "echwaboga" ("echawokaba") ·  D. R. Congo, Eastern Bembe · ID: 3046623

Description

wood, colour pigments (white and red), missing parts/ insect caused damage

This mask represents a bush spirit “m’ ma mwitu” and belongs to the equipment of the “alunga” secret society. It appears at the initiation of new society members and at hunting rites.

For performance in the public it is decorated with a sumptuous headdress of feathers and plant fibre cuff. The masked dancer is covered by a multi-layered costume made of fibres or fabric.

With the eyes of an owl on all sides, this mask has “panoramic vision and keeps the opposing powers of nature (male/female, night/day) in balance and thus preserves harmony”.

Comparing literature

Hahner-Herzog, Iris, Das Zweite Gesicht, Genf, München, New York 1997, ill. 96 Bouttiaux, Anne-Marie, Persona, Masks of Africa, Tervuren 2009, p. 214