African Arts Gallery

Ex-collection Italian African art.

Female figure from the Kangulungu region sculpted in a naturalist style, with the famous half-closed female gaze, "zanze". Represented naked, fingers joined on the sternum, she adopts an expression of contemplation. These statues were generally part of a fertility cult and were kept in a room in the chief's house. Matte red ochre patina. Abrasions. The Western Pende live on the banks of the Kwilu, while the Eastern settled on the banks of the Kasaï downstream from Tshikapa. The influences of the neighboring ethnic groups, Mbla, Suku, Wongo, Leele, Kuba and Salempasu were imprinted on their large sculpture of tribal art. Within this diversity the masks Mbuya, realistic, produced every ten years, have a festive function, and embody different characters, including the chief, the diviner and his wife, the prostitute, the possessed, etc... The masks of initiation and those of power, the minganji, represent the ancestors and occur successively during the same ceremonies, agricultural festivals, initiation and circumcision rituals mukanda, enthronement of the chief. Governed by heads of families, the djogo, with the priestly function, the Pende have sculptures intended to come into contact with the ancestors, to whom sacrifices are offered. They are stored in a room or house adjoining the chief's house.