African mask

Lwalwa / loualoua

REF: LOA06

Importation : RDC

Size: H33cm L24cm

weight : 700Gr

african mask - lwalwa

The masks typically display a balanced composition, an enlarged angular nose, a protruding mouth and slanted eyes set under a deeply formed forehead. These sharply delineated features give Lwalwa art almost geometric appearance. The masks may be divided into four types: the nkaki, or man’s mask, with a nose sculpted into a wide triangular panel that sometimes extends up to the forehead; the shifoola, a mask with a short, hooked nose; the mvondo, the nose of which is reminiscent of the nkaki’s, but smaller; and finally the mushika or kashika, which represents a woman and which has a frontal crest. The shapes of the nose are modeled after different birds. The lips are narrow but protruding and thick; the eyes have openings in horizontal slits. On the temples they have a protuberance that represents tattooing. The masks had an important function in the bangongo dance of the hunting ritual. When hunters returned empty-handed, the ancestors would be appeased by organizing a dance. The masks were also used in a secret ritual of the bangongo society, in charge of initiation and circumcision of young men. The choreography of masked dances was highly complex and had to appease the spirits of the ancestors and compel them to intervene. Masks still play a role today in secular festivities. Nowadays the mask dances are performed for payment, and their magic has largely given way to entertainment.