Mask

The Yaka people live in the Bandundu region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and inhabit the savannah north of the Angolan border. Like many Southeastern Congolese people, the Yaka practice a form of initiation that circumcises the boys and teaches them the social customs and religious thought of the Yaka people called Nkhanda.

This initiatory society is found in various forms across the region and utilizes masks in almost all contexts. Among the Yaka particularly, the most common masks are called Kholuka, and are worn by the boys themselves at various stages during their initiation.

The Khouka mask is made of a wooden facial covering that is attached to a fiber collar and is extensively painted. Many Kholuka masks also have an elaborate superstructure that is made up of figures in various poses and made of fiber and wood.

The surmounting imagery often features female figures or couples in sexual or otherwise embarrassing poses.This imagery partakes of song refrains exchanged between dance leaders and bystanders. All of this is simultaneously charged with humor, giving bent to expressions that in other contexts would be serious execrations. Songs also continue initiation themes in which the hardships of the initiation camp are recalled, including the abstinence of Nkhanda officials. All of this proceeds much to the amusement of the crowd participating in the sung refrains.

This mask is a fine example of the Yaka Kholuka mask; the face being well carved and pigmented. The superstructure is complex, depicting male figures with carved wooden hands and heads. What the specific iconographic meaning may have been for the figure is lost, however aesthetically it is well balanced and appealing. This is a fine Yaka mask with good evidence of traditional use.