Ngbaka mask
€480.00
In the cultures of the Oubangui River region of northern DR Congo, societies used to mark and transmit gender roles, generational positions, and esoteric knowledge through initiation rites accompanied by masks such as this one.
The initiation of boys and girls took place upon entering adulthood, and men, like women, could be initiated within the framework of closed associations, generally dedicated to a particular spirit.
It is in the different contexts of initiation that most of the masks and figurines that have come down to us found their use. In addition, many of the rituals attached to these objects seem to have traveled between neighboring groups, thus leading to similarities in form and content.
The lives of individuals are punctuated by more stages: some time after birth, the baby is given a name, which opens the newborn's entry into the social world; at puberty, the young person is initiated into the adult world; and finally, funeral ceremonies allow the deceased to acquire the status of ancestor.
Nowadays, adherence to these rites is less strict than in the past.
Initiation into adulthood usually, but not always, coincided with circumcision and excision (in women), and followed a sequence typical of rites of passage.
Through a symbolic death, followed by a transition phase, where the initiate was "in between", belonging to neither world, before arriving at a phase of incorporation, where his newly acquired identity was publicly recognized.
02531
Data sheet
- Presumed dating
- Mid XXth century
- Size
- 23,5 cm (36 cm with support)
- Ethnic group
- Material(s)
- Wood
- Country
- Origin
- Raskin collection, Belgium - USA
- Stand
- Included
- Condition
- Very good
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In the cultures of the Oubangui River region of northern DR Congo, societies used to mark and transmit gender roles, generational positions, and esoteric knowledge through initiation rites accompanied by masks such as this one.
The initiation of boys and girls took place upon entering adulthood, and men, like women, could be initiated within the framework of closed associations, generally dedicated to a particular spirit.
It is in the different contexts of initiation that most of the masks and figurines that have come down to us found their use. In addition, many of the rituals attached to these objects seem to have traveled between neighboring groups, thus leading to similarities in form and content.
The lives of individuals are punctuated by more stages: some time after birth, the baby is given a name, which opens the newborn's entry into the social world; at puberty, the young person is initiated into the adult world; and finally, funeral ceremonies allow the deceased to acquire the status of ancestor.
Nowadays, adherence to these rites is less strict than in the past.
Initiation into adulthood usually, but not always, coincided with circumcision and excision (in women), and followed a sequence typical of rites of passage.
Through a symbolic death, followed by a transition phase, where the initiate was "in between", belonging to neither world, before arriving at a phase of incorporation, where his newly acquired identity was publicly recognized.