Bifwebe or Kifwebe mask (#496)

Description

Ethnic Group and Region: Songye, DRC (formerly Zaire)
Formerly Displayed:
·
Kennedy Museum of Art at Ohio University (February through April 2007)
·
Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine art at Auburn University (February through May 2008).
·
5
th
Avenue Mask Museum, Hendersonville NC (#496)
Tag on mask: Barrister’s Gallery, New Orleans
Measurements are approximate.
Mask height:
18 inches
Mask width:
11 inches
Mask depth: 6 1/2 inches
Material: Wood, hand carved
Acquired year: 1986
Acquired from: Barrister’s Gallery, New Orleans
Information and the only claim with respect to authenticity about this mask are taken from notes and sketches by Ellen Hobbs
and from the museum catalogue
Behind the Mask
.
Ms. Hobbs’ sketch is shown with the photos of the mask. No other representations of authenticity are made.
Masks of this type “assist rulers and the ruling elite by keeping economic and political power in place. . . . Members learn a coded terminology in relation to the masquerade that carries larger, metaphorical meanings” (101).
Quoted from t
he museum catalog
Behind the Mask
(see photos) [copyrighted 2008 by Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art Auburn University (
www.jcsm.auburn.edu
); the pages shown here have been reproduced with the Museum’s permission].