Mask "okuyi" · Gabon, Punu · ID: 3037670
Description
light wood, dark brown paint, the facial plane whitened with “pemba” (kaolin earth), half closed eyes, old collection label backside “1624”, slightly dam. (ears, hairdo), traces of usage backside at the rim and at the two drilled holes for attachment;
belonging to the so-called “white-faced masks from the Ogue”. These masks represented female entities from the spirit world, fantastical beings who intervened in the villages on important collective occasions (bereavements, palavers, the birth of twins, times of epidemic, hunts for malevolent sorcerers). Masked dancers standing on stilts would confront each other in “jousts”. Each dancer would be assisted by a team, whose purpose was to help him perform his competition with an acrobatic feat. The best dancer in the eyes of public would win the match.
Littérature comparée
Fagaly, William, Ancestors of Congo Square, New Orleans 2011, p. 276 ff.