This staff is difficult to identify because of its simplified and streamlined, contemporary, cane-like form. The face depicted at the top, however, has the distinctive eyes and projecting chin typical of the Chokwe culture sculptures. Like many other staffs from Central Africa, Chokwe staffs of office were used to document the status and lineage of the owner. In addition, … [Read more...] about Contemporary Chokwe Cane: Researched by Jordan Seyer
This staff illustrates how the Luba and the Songye are closely related cultures that often borrowed ideas from one another. The facial features of the heads identify this staff as Songye, but both of these cultures made staffs with what are known as Janus images. The name Janus derives from its resemblance to the Roman deity that is depicted with two connected heads, each … [Read more...] about Six-Headed, Janus-Style Memory Staff: Researched by Jordan Seyer
Luba staffs of office serve as records and memory devices for the elite of the Luba culture. When each staff is created, the top and the shaft are left undecorated, as blank canvases to be carved and incised later with specific types of heads, bodies, and headdresses, as well as meaningful symbols and other imagery. Together, these motifs symbolize a specific story with clear … [Read more...] about Luba Staffs of Office: Researched by Jordan Seyer
The three masks in this exhibit have the identifying features of both the lukwakongo masks and the idimu masks of the Lega culture Bwami society. The long, slender noses and the scarification are typical, as are the small mouths with protruding lips, which represent a dissatisfied teacher’s pursed lips. The incised vertical scarification lines in the lips are also typical, and … [Read more...] about Bwami Society Lukwakongo and Idimu Masks: Researched by Whitney Mosley
Peace Baskets, known agaseke, have long been an essential part of Banyarwandan culture in central Africa. Typically used for holding foods or grains, these baskets are also used as gifts at important events like weddings. Weaving in Banyarwanda culture is traditionally a female artform passed down from mother to daughter, but after the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, this tradition … [Read more...] about Traditional Peace Basket (Agaseke): Researched by Jonathan Kodner