African Arts Gallery

Luba Mask (N° 19929)

This African mask featuring a bird (probably a wild guinea fowl, a symbol of fertility) was worn in the company of a circular kifwebe mask accessorized with a voluminous raffia collar that concealed the dancer. These masks were performed during various traditions: investitures, funerals, and rites against witchcraft among the various initiatory societies. In the eastern part of the Luba region, important ceremonies are held in honor of the clan's ancestors, deceased chiefs, and the new moon. They had some zoomorphic masks associated with the kifwebe dance. They performed during the ritual ceremonies of the kazanzi society, responsible for fighting witchcraft. Offerings are then made to the nature spirits, intermediaries between the group and the ancestors. Matt patina. Desiccation cracks.

The Luba, or Baluba in Tchiluba, are a people of Central Africa. Their cradle is Katanga, more precisely the region of the Lubu River, hence the name (Baluba, which means "the Lubas"). They were born from a secession of the Songhoy ethnic group, under the leadership of Ilunga Kalala, who caused the death of the old king Kongolo, who has since been venerated in the form of a python. In the sixteenth century they created a state, organized in decentralized chieftaincies, which extended from the Kasai River to Lake Tanganyika. The chieftaincies cover a small territory with no real borders, and include no more than three villages. "Luba" 5 Continents. Rooberts