Congo+History+Through+Art

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__ Congolese Masks __ By Karen Sereshgi, Danyella Mulunda, and Antillia Matenda

= = = Yaka Masks: = = = = LwaLwa Masks: = = - Enlarged angular noses = = - Pointy Mouths = = - Squinted holes for mouths =
 * = Ceremony of young boys going into adult hood. =
 * = It marks the end of the educational period. =
 * = The muumba (carver) repairs and makes masks. =
 * = The kholuka (common masks) are worn mostly by beginners. =
 * = They have a piece of cloth attached to their stem shape; however several are completely made out of wood with no cloth. =
 * = These masks are worn near the Kasai River. =
 * = It is worn during the ceremony of youth and sometimes during hunting rituals. =
 * = These masks are said to have a geometric look, they have: =

= Pende Masks: = == = Songye Masks: =
 * = This masks are worn in the Kasai River. =
 * = Some masks are painted with dark and light pigments to resemble a checker board. =
 * = Panya Ngombe would be hung above a door or a window of a chief’s house. =
 * = Several masks are carved to communicate with spirits during ceremonies. =
 * = They also believe that the spirits of ancestors negatively and positively affect people’s lives. =
 * = This mask is used during ceremonies or at funerals of very important leaders. =
 * = The white paint in the channel stands for peace, light, and purity of soil. =
 * = Brown, tan, and blue stand for nature and it is also a positive force. =
 * = They appear to have Zebra stripes. =
 * = The nose is triangular and the mouth has a geometric shape, in all the mask looks geometric. =
 * = The mask is worn along with a costume and raffia beards to gain magical powers to defeat spirits. =

= Teke Masks: = > In Congo there are many different tribes and most of those tribes have objects that represent things like fertility, protection, and right for land. For example: > In the Salampasu tribe statues are used as little female figurines that encourage fertility. > >  > In the Kalundwe sculptors carved feminine figures, cupbearers standing upright, caryatids, chairs, and scepters. Those objects belonged only to the Noble Society. > In the Hemba Tribe, statues in older times were worshipped in great princely families produced both the ancestors protection and the right to own land. > Also other tribes in the Congo used statues to honor their ancestors, represent a certain trait of the tribe, and decoration of the houses. For example: > >  > The Mangbetu tribe used some statues honor their ancestors. A four-legged stool was a sign of prestige, upon which an ancestral figure was sometimes placed. Also the Mangebetu had deformed heads and the deformation made their heads longer which they used in their statues because it represented them. > >  > The Pende Tribe used objects as statuettes, talking sticks, sculpted stakes, oracle heads, axes and so much more for decoration in the chief’s house and civils’ houses. The Pende are dynamic people who love music and dance. The Pende are the people who are responsible for most of music happening in Kinshasa! > //**power point by sankara durjaya and william**// >
 * = This mask is worn by the members of the Kiduma (a secret society that control social celebrations and rituals). =
 * = It has a tastepiece which the wearer holds in the teeth. =
 * = The masks are decorated with geometric shapes and are divided by a horizontal shape. =
 * =//Congolese Statues //=
 * By: Qetsia Nkulu
 * By: Qetsia Nkulu
 * [[image:CIMG5468.JPG width="288" height="384" align="center"]]
 * [[image:CIMG5468.JPG width="288" height="384" align="center"]]