Kifwebe Mask
Artist: Basonge Tribe
Date: Early 20th century
Dimensions:
H: 23 1/2 in. (59.7 cm); With raffia: 43 1/2 in. (110.5 cm); Max W (across face): 11 9/16 in. (29.4 cm); Depth: 13 3/8 in. (34.0 cm)
Medium: Carved wood with polychrome painted decoration and raffia
Place of Origin: Zaire (modern Democratic Republic of Congo)
Classification: Sculpture
Credit Line: Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number: 1973.8
Label Text:In the Songye language, the word for mask is kifwebe (pronounced kif-WAY-bay). This word identifies large masks used by the Bwadi ya Kifwebe secret societies in rituals to control social behavior and to neutralize witches and other disruptive people. Colonial authorities tried to stamp out the society, but it had a rebirth in the 1920s and 1930s, when this mask was made, as a protest against the Belgian colonial government. This mask represents a male, distinguished from female masks by the prominent crest along the top and its protruding eyes.
Not on view
In Collection(s)