Mask, Pende; D.R.C. Congo
Wood, pigment, fiber, raffia; H. 16 1/2"
Masks such as this were used in the
theatrical performance that accompanies Pende Mukanda
initiation. This includes some sixty characters
in a variety of masks and costumes, some of which
are believed to have magical and curative powers.
This mask called Giwoyo, distinguished by
its elongated wooden beard, emerges at dusk directing
his face toward the setting sun. Representing the
ancestor, Giwoyo is a bridge between the
visible and invisible, sacred and profane, living
and dead, traditional and new. In its curative aspect,
the mask supplies a tied strand of whitened raffia
and is occasionally represented in ivory Gikhokho
pendants. De Sousberghe and others have suggested
that the Giwoyo type mask originated after
first encounters with bearded European missionaries
before the beginning of the eighteenth century in
what is now Angola.
