African Arts Gallery

Belgian African art collection.
Topped with numerous wicker balls, this African mask is linked to the ceremonies and initiation rites of the warrior society. He also appeared at funerals in connection with the previous initiations of the deceased, and in many cases against payment. The power of certain masks was also so feared that their name alone caused women and children to flee. These masks are distinguished by their bulbous forehead, flat nose and mouth revealing cut teeth. This fierce-looking specimen is distinguished by the breadth of the forehead and the protruding tubular ears.
Living from hunting and agriculture, a warrior people, the Salampasu form a tribe of the Lulua group and live between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola, east of the Kasai River. They are surrounded to the west and south by the Tschokwe and the Lunda, and to the north and east by the Kete and the Lwalwa. A hierarchy of masks, simple wooden kasangu masks and copper-covered mukinka masks, was associated with the society of mungongo warriors (pl. < i>bangongo ). The wearing of these masks depended on a large contribution of livestock, drink, or other material goods from the aspirant who was initiated into esoteric knowledge from the other mask wearers. (Africa, Prestel)