FACES OF AFRICA
A Mystical View of Tribal Heritage
Celebrating the tradition of ritual and ceremony for more than 3,500 years, the mask is a sacred and revered object, honored and beloved in addition to being a feared and dangerous entity. For the people of Africa, tribal masks and sculpture represent the invisible force assigned to it, which may be the spirit of a wise ancestor, a tutelary deity, or any embodiment of supernatural power from the animal kingdom. Whoever wears a mask combines and unites their strength to the spirit associated with it, enhancing value and heightening power, creating a mystical empyreal bond between the past and present, the sacred living and the honored dead.
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Warrior Sand Painting No. 1, (Alive), Congolese Design
Warrior Sand Painting No. 2, (Dead), Congolese Design
Archaeological evidence indicates that the Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of the oldest places inhabited by humans and the home of empires, kingdoms, and small village communities prior to European colonization. Sand painting in Africa is as old a tradition as the recounting of oral histories and the performance of sacred rituals.
Displayed in these two paintings, a simple before and after story of the warriors engaged emerges in the first panel as having once been alive, and due to the consequences of battle are now dead in the second panel. Elaborate headdress are worn by three warriors standing in preparation. In the second painting, a single spear is pierced through all three warriors as they lay on the ground near a hillside to illustrate their demise. Displayed in a sacred shrine to commemorate a battle, sand paintings were also created to honor deceased warrior ancestors and mark events in tribal history.
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Batetela Tribal Mask, Kinshasa, Congo
The Tetela or Batetela, in the plural, inhabit the Democratic Republic of the Congo, an ethnic subgroup of the larger Mongo tribe. Famous for their drum making, this tribe commonly subsists on farming, fishing, raising cassava, banana and kola nuts. Motetela, the name of their creator god means, "He, who laughs not" or "He, at whom one may not laugh."
Defended by tribal warriors, the Batetela suffered conflicts with other tribes, Belgians and Arabs particularly during the slave trade in the mid-1800s to early 1900s.
Deep and graceful lines of ritual scarification can be seen on the face of this warrior’s mask, crowned by the gilded images of four protective ancestors facing east, west, north and south above his helmet. His eyes reflect the color of the sky and a missing front tooth marks time spent in battle.
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