Africa - Democratic Republic of Congo

For years, Westerners dismissed African art as simple. On figures, the head is often larger than the body, facial features are sometimes out of proportion, and colors are not often representational. Today we better understand that these characteristics are intentional and difficult to achieve.

Much African art, such as the Mask (Kifwebe), serves religious and practical purposes while expressing the culture of the tribe that makes it. This art inspired artists such as Pablo Picasso to begin the Cubist movement by breaking free from European tradition.

Consider times when our culture uses masks. Now, look at the Mask (Kifwebe). How is it different from masks you usually see? The Mask (Kifwebe) is symmetrical, and its colors are vibrant and patterned. You may note that the mask resembles a human face with eyes, nose, and mouth, but that they may not be the shapes you immediately think of when you hear the words "eyes," "nose," and "mouth." The large eyelids, striped face, and square mouth might seem unintentional, but masks like these are deliberately abstract. After all, is not the point of a mask to conceal your true identity?

The Mask (Kifwebe) was worn at the makaye a kifwebe, or "dance of the mask," at the deaths and appointments of new chiefs or the arrival of an important visitor. It could also have been on a life-sized statue. Try to imagine the mask both in movement on a dancer and still on a statue. How might the wearer's movement change the way a mask looks?

Mask (Kifwebe), 1900/1999
Unidentified Maker
(Songye People),
Democratic Republic of Congo
Wood and hair
13 1/2 inches H; 7 3/8 inches W; 6 1/2 inches D
Gift of David T. Owsley
2003.011.000
World Events

1905 Pablo Picasso becomes aware of African art.

1914 Much of Africa comes under European control.

1914-1918 World War I.

1944 First digital computer developed.

1960 Democratic Republic of Congo receives independence from Belgium.

DARCY DISCUSSES: PAINT

The color selection may be surprising to you, but to tribes like these, paint was more than decoration. Artists often used natural pigments, which affected the color palette. They also saw it as a way for a spirit to enter the mask, which literally gave the mask "a life of its own."

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