Mask (Kholuka)

The kholuka is the most popular of all masks in Yaka initiation ceremonies, and is typically the last to perform before the crowd disperses. This mask features a face with bulging round eyes, a large oblong nose, and bared teeth. It is painted white with blue accents, including two lines projecting downward from the eyes, which represents “the sufferings of initiation,” according to scholar Arthur P. Bourgeois. The face is surrounded by a raffia ruff and topped by a visor, then two conical disks, the topmost of which is mounted by a puppet-like figure, a primary feature of the kholuka. These puppet-like figures (often crafted from straw covered in raffia) typically exhibit overtly sexual references and when danced, the mask was accompanied by sung verses of a similar bawdy nature. Bourgeois has suggested that the imagery of the puppet figure may have been influenced by late nineteenth-century European clay pipes with figurative pipe bowls. Based on its style, the mask likely originated in Northern Yaka territory.