Striated mask "kifwebe" ·  D. R. Congo, Luba · ID: 3035143

Description

wood, black paint, kaolin, lancet-shaped eyes with narrow see slits underneath, entirely coated with concentrical striations, a plug-shaped projection on the parting, drilled holes around the rim backside, slightly dam., socle;
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”, “the name of the spirit”, 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