African Arts Gallery

Yela Mask (N° 18201)

This flat and circular African mask was kept in a basket of the lodge belonging to the secret society ekanga . Use patina with residues from a plant brush. Small restoration using wicker. Cracks. Height on a base: 46 cm.
The province of Lualaba had several close ethnic groups with similar associations. The Mbole and Yela are known for their statues, according to D. Biebuck, of the hanged, named ofika . The lilwa , an association with dogmatic initiation rites, had the custom of judging and sentencing those guilty of violations of the imposed rules to hang. These offences ranged from murder to adultery to breaking the secrecy surrounding the lilwa . Disgraced, the bodies of condemned men had no funerals and were buried in the forest. It was during the end-of-initiation ceremonies, presided over by a notable isoya , that these statues, presented lying on a litter box, were displayed. In addition to these figures, the Yela sculpt effigies of ancestors. The Yela worship spirits of nature and ancestors.