African Arts Gallery

The masks of the Chokwe, Luda, Luvale/Lwena, Luchazi and Mbunda clans are called "makishi" (sing. likishi) in Zambia. This name comes from "kishi", a Bantu concept that evokes the manifestation of a spirit or an ancestor. These agents of social, moral and spiritual order, forming a panel of different characters, sociable, aggressive, or unpredictable, in fact embody the spirit of an illustrious ancestor (male or female), their appearance manifesting itself mainly during rites mukanda, including circumcision, during which their true identity must remain hidden from the eyes of the profane.
Ocher brown velvety patina, abrasions.
Of Lunda origin, the Lwena emigrated from Angola to Zaire in the 19th century, repelled by the Chokwe. When some became slave traders, other groups found refuge in Zambia, forming the Luvale, Lovale. Their society is matrilineal, exogamous and polygamous. The Lwena and the Luvale became known for their sculptures embodying figures of deceased ancestors and chiefs, and their masks linked to the initiation rites of the mukanda, a secret association masculine that all these groups share on this same territory, with some variations however.