Mbangu Mask

The Pende of the Katundu region of the Democratic Republic of Congo make the most recognizable facemasks of all the Pende groups, which are known as Mbuya. Mbuya masks depict dozens of characters, from the chief, to the ancestors, the recently deceased, clowns, prostitutes, and elders. Additionally, new mask types are constantly evolving based on the needs of the community, and the preferences of the dancers.

Pende Mbuya masks function in public spectacles as well as having a role in the initiation of boys, known as Mukanda. In public however, the masks have profound influence, even being able to chide and abuse the chief if he is known to be breaking with traditional mores and violating taboos.

The most recognizable of the Mbuya masks is the Mbangu, which is divided vertically down the face in black and white, and depicts a severe case of deformation due to a stroke or Bell’s palsy. These masks have come to be called ‘sickness masks’ after the French ‘masque malade’ or ‘deformity masks.’ In reality neither is an accurate term to describe the mask, as the mask does not represent a sick individual as much as it represents a known and respected individual (in this case a well respected hunter) who has fallen ill with facial paralysis due to his transgressions of societal rules. In this sense, the mask’s primary message is not one of illness or deformity, but the price that is paid for violating the rules that govern Pende life.

Much has been written about the supposed ‘oppositional duality’ of black and white, and the mask has in some cases been interpreted in that narrow structuralist binary form. However, while structuralism has some very valid points to make about binary opposites as a means of human thought (based originally on Hegel) this mask is not in any way really depicting an oppositional system that is mediated by a synthesis.

These masks are simply powerful didactic tools among the many that the Pende use to maintain social control and enforce rules and regulations.