African Arts Gallery

The masks " of disease" Pende Mbangu (deformed mouth) or Bwala-Bwala against, illustrate, by their outraged features, the patient in an epileptic seizure or the result of a facial paralysis caused by witchcraft rituals. The dancer wearing this comedy mask is wearing a feather hat gifuatu guinea fowl, coucal or touraco, or lumbandu, a crown of leaves. It is also often equipped with a bump on the back, exaggerating the handicapped aspect of the character.
This mask of the Pende established in the upper Kwango is distinguished by its bent nose and tubular mouth, and the contrasting colored lozenges, applied on a dark, matte background, accentuate the visual effect. The hairstyle divided into three resembles that of some Kuba masks. Abrasions. Damaged internal contours.
The Western Pende live on the banks of the Kwilu, while the Easterners have settled on the banks of the Kasai river downstream of Tshikapa. The influences of the neighbouring ethnic groups, Mbla, Suku, Wongo, Leele, Kuba and Salempasu, were imprinted on their large tribal art sculpture. Within this diversity the Mbuya, realistic, produced every ten years, have a festive function, and embody different characters difficult to differentiate without their costume, including the head fumu or ufumu, the soothsayer and his wife, the prostitute, the buffoon, tundu, the possessed, etc. (Art and Life in Africa, C.D. Roy; "Pende" Strother)