Mask

This mask’s heart-shaped facial plane, its sharply cut nose, sweeping brow and narrow almond-shaped eyes indicate its origin in the densely forested region of the Congo River basin, today encompassed within the nation-states of Gabon, the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Although such stylistic patterns are evident among carvers throughout this region, the huge variety of highly localised and changing forms makes this works attribution to a specific group within the wider region difficult.

Due to its similarity to other masks and its distinctive use of silhouette and negative space, it has been suggested that this work was made and used by the Kwele (or Kwese) people of modern-day eastern Gabon, western Republic of the Congo or southern Cameroon – whose ancestral lands lie between the Dja and Ivindo rivers [1]. If originating with this community, the mask would likely have formed part of a Be’ete masquerade performance – in which sculpted masks symbolising spiritual creatures of the forest (known as ekuk) were paraded before locals as part of ceremonies devised to ward off evil and placate tensions between communities. Though this mask is relatively simple in form, other Kwele masks have elaborate antler-like projections or protruding trunks to represent specific creatures of the forest [2]. As in this example, masks were rubbed with white powder from riverbeds to add potency. An alternative possible origin for this mask is with the Lega people of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, who used similar carving techniques but for whom masks acted as mnemonic devices for recalling proverbs associated with the Bwami philosophical system [3].

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