Kifwebe

Last updated

A kifwebe or bwadi bwa kifwebe is a mask of the Songye or Luba of the Congo.

Contents

Kifwebe mask of the Songye Kifwebe.jpg
Kifwebe mask of the Songye

Uses

These masks almost always have streaks (incised or painted) on their surface and they are sometimes round shaped (especially among the Luba). [1] They were used in ceremonies of the Kifwebe secret societies where dances of the same name were performed, and the masks were then dressed with beards of long plant fibres attached to holes on the edges of the mask (Figure A). When these beards were absent (lack of fixing holes on the border of the mask) they were called Kabemba (that means "hawks"). [2]

Related Research Articles

African art Art from indigenous Africans or the African continent

African art describes the modern and historical paintings, sculptures, installations, and other visual culture from native or indigenous Africans and the African continent. The definition may also include the art of the African diasporas, such as African American, Caribbean or art in South American societies inspired by African traditions. Despite this diversity, there are unifying artistic themes present, when considering the totality of the visual culture from the continent of Africa.

Exekias Ancient Athenian vase painter

Exekias was an ancient Greek vase painter and potter who was active in Athens between roughly 545 BC and 530 BC. Exekias worked mainly in the black-figure technique, which involved the painting of scenes using a clay slip that fired to black, with details created through incision. Exekias is regarded by art historians as an artistic visionary whose masterful use of incision and psychologically sensitive compositions mark him as one of the greatest of all Attic vase painters. The Andokides painter and the Lysippides Painter are thought to have been students of Exekias.

Nkisi Kongo spirits or an object that a spirit inhabits

Nkisi or Nkishi are spirits or an object that a spirit inhabits. It is frequently applied to a variety of objects used throughout the Congo Basin in Central Africa, especially in the Territory of Cabinda that are believed to contain spiritual powers or spirits. The term and its concept have passed with the Atlantic slave trade to the Americas.

South Kasai 1960–1962 unrecognised state in Africa

South Kasai was an unrecognised secessionist state within the Republic of the Congo which was semi-independent between 1960 and 1962. Initially proposed as only a province, South Kasai sought full autonomy in similar circumstances to the much larger neighbouring state of Katanga, to its south, during the political turmoil arising from the independence of the Belgian Congo known as the Congo Crisis. Unlike Katanga, however, South Kasai did not explicitly declare full independence from the Republic of the Congo or reject Congolese sovereignty.

Oenochoe Wine jug and a key form of ancient Greek pottery

An oenochoe, also spelled oinochoe, is a wine jug and a key form of ancient Greek pottery. Intermediate between a pithos or amphora, and individual cups or bowls, it held fluid for several persons temporarily until it could be poured. The term oinos appears in Mycenaean Greek, but not the compound. The characteristic form was popular throughout the Bronze Age, especially at prehistoric Troy. In classical times for the most part the term oinochoe implied the distribution of wine. As the word began to diversify in meaning, the shape became a more important identifier than the word. The oinochoe could pour any fluid, not just wine. The English word, pitcher, is perhaps the closest in function.

Tellem

The Tellem were the people who inhabited the Bandiagara Escarpment in Mali between the 11th and 16th centuries CE. The Dogon people migrated to the escarpment region around the 14th century. In the rock cells of this red cliff, clay constructions shelter the bones of the Tellem as well as vestiges witnessing their civilization, well before that of the Dogons.

African sculpture

Most African sculpture was historically in wood and other organic materials that have not survived from earlier than at most a few centuries ago; older pottery figures are found from a number of areas. Masks are important elements in the art of many peoples, along with human figures, often highly stylized. There is a vast variety of styles, often varying within the same context of origin depending on the use of the object, but wide regional trends are apparent; sculpture is most common among "groups of settled cultivators in the areas drained by the Niger and Congo rivers" in West Africa. Direct images of African deities are relatively infrequent, but masks in particular are or were often made for traditional African religious ceremonies; today many are made for tourists as "airport art". African masks were an influence on European Modernist art, which was inspired by their lack of concern for naturalistic depiction.

The Songye people, sometimes written Songe, are a Bantu ethnic group from the central Democratic Republic of the Congo. They inhabit a vast territory between the Sankuru and Lubilash rivers in the west and the Lualaba River in the east. Many Songye villages can be found in present-day East Kasai province, parts of Katanga and Kivu Province. The people of Songye are divided into thirty-four conglomerate societies; each society is led by a single chief with a Judiciary Council of elders and nobles (bilolo). Smaller kingdoms east of the Lomami River refer to themselves as Songye, other kingdoms in the west, refer to themselves as Kalebwe, Eki, Ilande, Bala, Chofwe, Sanga and Tempa. As a society, the people of Songye are mainly known as a farming community; they do, however, take part in hunting and trading with other neighboring communities.

Kwakwakaʼwakw art

Kwakwaka'wakw art describes the art of the Kwakwaka'wakw peoples of British Columbia. It encompasses a wide variety of woodcarving, sculpture, painting, weaving and dance. Kwakwaka'wakw arts are exemplified in totem poles, masks, wooden carvings, jewelry and woven blankets. Visual arts are defined by simplicity, realism, and artistic emphasis. Dances are observed in the many rituals and ceremonies in Kwakwaka'wakw culture. Much of what is known about Kwakwaka'wakw art comes from oral history, archeological finds in the 19th century, inherited objects, and devoted artists educated in Kwakwaka'wakw traditions.

Daniel P. Biebuyck was an American scholar of Central African art.

Kingdom of Luba Pre-colonial (1585–1889) Central African state that arose in the Upemba Depression

The Kingdom of Luba or Luba Empire (1585–1889) was a pre-colonial Central African state that arose in the marshy grasslands of the Upemba Depression in what is now southern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Lulua people

The Lulua people are a Bantu ethnic group settled along the Lulua River valley in south central Kasai-Occidental province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Lulua are in fact a collection of small groups whose home bordered by the larger Luba state and the related Songye people and Chokwe people, with whom they share a very similar culture, history, and language.

The Hemba people are a Bantu ethnic group in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Asian diasporas in France consist of foreign residents and French citizens originating from Asian countries living in France. French citizens of Asian descent primarily have ancestry from the former French colonies of Indochina, although there has been a growing number of Chinese and Turkish immigration to France. Other Asian ethnic groups found in France include other West Asians, such as the Lebanese, South Asians, Japanese and Koreans.

Luba art

Luba art refers to the visual and material culture of the Luba people. Most objects were created by people living along the Lualaba River and around the lakes of the Upemba Depression, or among related peoples to the east in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Lukasa (Luba)

Lukasa, "the long hand", is a memory device that was created, manipulated and protected by the Bambudye, a once powerful secret society of the Luba. Lukasa are examples of Luba art.

<i>Judgement of Paris Amphora</i>

The Judgement of Paris Amphora is an Attic black-figure amphora named for the scene depicted on it. It is held by the Musée des beaux-arts de Lyon with the inventory number E 581-c and is attributed to the London B76 Painter, who was active at Athens in the second quarter of the sixth century BC.

The Suku people or Basuku (plural) are an ethnic group of Bantu origin who traditionally inhabit the south-western Democratic Republic of the Congo and north-western Angola. As of 2017, there are believed to be about 200,000 people who identify as Suku, many living in the Congo's Kwango Province.

Rémy Mwamba (1921–1967) was a Congolese politician who twice served as Minister of Justice of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was also a leading figure of the Association Générale des Baluba du Katanga (BALUBAKAT).

National Museum of Lubumbashi Museum in Lubumbashi, DRC

The National Museum of Lubumbashi is a museum with core collections in archaeology and ethnography in Lubumbashi, Haut-Katanga Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was founded in 1946.

References

  1. Julien Volper, Autour des Songye, Annales des Arts africains, 2012, p.17
  2. Julien Volper, Autour des Songye, Annales des Arts africains, 2012, p.91

Bibliography