Helmet Mask (Kholuka or Mbala)
Yaka
1875–1925
- Medium
- Wood, raffia, and pigment
- Dimensions
- deck mount/post: 76.2 × 48.3 × 48.3 cm (30 × 19 × 19 in.); 48.3 × 48.3 × 48.3 cm (19 × 19 × 19 in.)
- Genre
- masks
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago
Styles
Tags
ancestorsmasqueradespainting (coating)Central Africaceremonial maskplant materialanimalsmasksperformanceassemblage (sculpture technique)wood (plant material)Initiationafrican Artarts of AfricacarvingraffiaMalefertilitypigmentyaka
About
In the past, Yaka masks like this example comprising a wooden face with a dome-shaped hairstyle of twigs and cloth appeared in performances marking the end of the male puberty ritual called n-khanda. They embodied the ancestors who watched over fertility and well-being, and celebrated the boys’ reintegration into society as adults after a long period of seclusion at the edge of the village. The masks’ imagery refers to Yaka concepts of cosmogony and sexuality.
