Luena - R.D. Congo

This Pwevo mask, equivalent to the Pwo mask of the Tshokwe, represents a female ancestor. The
hairstyle, consisting of long, fine braids of plant fibres dyed blue at the front and parted down the middle in accordance with the fashion of the time, is an innovation of the 1930s. The face, with greater depth than among the Tshokwe, is painted red and, at the junction with the hair, has a double strip of coloured glass beads as a coquettish touch; below and along its entire length are scarifications in the form of vertical notches; it has a medial line along the entire length of the forehead and nose; in the eye sockets, the upper part of which is painted black, it has globular eyes slit horizontally; the mouth, schematic, small and elongated, is slightly open, without showing the teeth, with two vertical tattoos below, between the mouth and the rounded chin; the circular and double-arched tattoos on the cheeks are common and distinctive among Luena women; the ears are also schematic, semicircular in shape, with linear tattoos in
their centre. The mask has a collar made of braided fibres in a mesh pattern, which conceals the wearer's face
while allowing them to see. In Angola, the dance is sober and elegant, but in Zambia, the dancer moves along a rope stretched between two posts about ten metres above the ground.

Provenance: Berthe Hartert collection
Argiles Collection, Barcelona