Mask (Ndeemba)

In Yaka culture, initiation ceremonies, in which male adolescents are circumcised, are referred to as nkanda. They are typically held every three or four years and the Yaka believe they bring about healthy, robust offspring. Performances by masked dancers are an important part of these ceremonies and masks are considered apotropaic, bringing good luck to the participants. Ndeemba masks feature faces with an exaggerated upturned nose (likely phallic in implication), projecting elliptical heavy-lidded eyes, and baring teeth, surrounded by a circular frame. The face of this mask is enveloped by a raffia ruff and surmounted by a superstructure consisting of a wooden armature covered in woven fiber, then resin, and painted (along with the face) in white, blue, and red. The superstructure features a central spire on a horizontal disk and four antenna-like projections or horns. Tied to one remains a bit of cloth, which would have stretched between the antennae. The central spire may at one time have been surmounted by a pompom of feathers. This dynamic arrangement of projections may replicate or allude to traditional headpieces or hairstyles formerly work by the Yaka. The superstructure features geometric designs that do not seem to have esoteric meanings; the colors used here are those preferred among the Yaka. Stylistically, this mask probably originated in the Northern Yaka territory in what is today southwestern Democratic Republic of Congo.