Mask "kakuungu" or "kazeba" · D. R. Congo, Yaka/Suku · ID: 3040508
Description
wood, greyish brown patina, significant face with voluminous inflated cheeks, face halves alternately dyed with red, resp. white pigment, entirely framed by plant fibre, small magical packages fixed on both sides of the face, small pointed mouth with central drilling, supporting handle beneath the chin, inscribed on the backside “541”, slightly dam., minor missing parts, cracks (head), abrasion of paint, base;
masks “kakuungu” and “kazeba” (male/female version) are danced at “nkhanda” initiation by the Suku and the Yaka peoples. The masks are worn and owned by the initiation charm specialist “isidika”. Essentially it is a terrorizing mask intended to prevent witches, the “baloki” from entering the camp and causing harm to the initiates. For this purpose the mask was often kept in a special shelter near the initiation site.
Comparing literature
Bourgeois, Arthur, Yaka, Milan 2014, pl. 52 Herreman, Frank, To cure and protect, New York 1999, p. 32