Like the famous pwo masks of the neighboring Chokwe, Lwena pwevo dance masks were part of a complex masquerade practice which was integral to pre-colonial Lwena cosmology. Owing to the small population of the Lwena people, as compared to the surviving arts of the populous Chokwe, classic Lwena art is extremely rare. With its elegant design, delicately rendered detail, and beautiful exposition of the natural color and of the wood, the Kunin Mask is among the finest Lwena masks known.
Bastin (1982: 81) discusses the masks of the Chokwe and related peoples: “Masks play a large part in the aesthetic sphere, since, as everywhere else in Black Africa, the ritual ceremonies are of paramount importance in social life and human relations. The masks are worn exclusively by men. Their function is to transform the man into a powerful being. The masks, akishi (sing. mukishi), represent spirits of the same name.” LaGamma (2011: 214) continues discussing the related masks of the Chokwe pwo masquerade in terms which can be applied to the closely related Lwena: “Among the key mask genres is Pwo, 'woman,' or mwana Pwo, 'young woman.' Although Pwo embodied the ideal of Chokwe womanhood and ancestry, it was worn by male performers. In a photo from the 1930s or 1940s, a male dancer wears a Pwo mask ensemble of a woven body outfit, breasts, and a protruding navel. […] the heavy beaded belt and bustle of woven ropes attached to the back draw attention to the movements of the performers buttocks, and the choreography emphasized graceful movements and elegant gestures appropriate for a female personage. According to Bastin, the appearance of the masked and costumed dancer was credited with enhancing the fertility of the assembled audience. The German ethnographer Hans Himmelheber further observed that these masquerade ensembles were the property of individual elders, who wore them for public theatrical entertainments accompanied by drumming and song [Himmelheber 1939]. Such spectacles were often staged in the dancer’s own and neighboring villages in order to elicit remuneration from the audience. The connection that developed between a mask and its owner/performer was an especially close (and secret) one, and the dancer frequently accorded his mask a proper name. The acquisition of such a work has been characterized as a mystical marriage and often involved payment of a symbolic bride-price to the artist. Ultimately, this cherished possession was buried with its owner.”
Provenance:
- Provate collection, UK
David Malík PhD
Founder/Director
