African Arts Gallery

Carefully incised with a set of streaks marrying the curved volumes, this ovoid-looking Eastern Luba mask bears the Songye influence but did not have the same function as the masks of its neighbours. The Bifwebe intervened at the funeral or investiture of a chief. Matte patina, kaolin residue.
Abraded matte patina.
Luba masks were performed during the ritual ceremonies of the kazanzi society, responsible for combating magic for harmful purposes. "Bifwebe" (Sing.: kifwebe) would also mean, according to C. Faïk-Nzuji, "chasing away death". Worn with a voluminous raffia collar which concealed the dancer, this mask was generally danced in the company of a zoomorphic mask. Among the Luba, white is synonymous with a relationship with the spiritual world, through the evocation of the moon, which is also evoked by the circular shape of the object.