Further Perspectives on Kifwebe Masquerades

Kifwebe (pl. bifwebe), a word referring to the striated masks performed by Songye and Luba peoples of the Democratic Republic of Congo, is by now very familiar to scholars, collectors, and dealers of African art. Although these masks populate many public and private collections and have even inspired designers and artists in the West, their indigenous story and time line, spilling over a vast region, is fragmentary. The object of this paper is to review and update what we know—and do not know—about the contextual life of kifwebe masquerade associations. It will deal with aspects relating to the effect, definition, and function of performances of this dynamic, interethnic tradition, mainly in Songye areas and, for comparison, in documented parts of Lubaland. In so doing, a certain amount of repetition of previous findings is necessary to place into perspective new data and interpretations which will build upon my 2012 publication...