Sacramento, Ca., April 9, 2024 — The Crocker Art Museum is pleased to announce Penetrating Expressions: Kifwebe Masks of the Songye and Luba People, an exhibition that brings together some 50 masks made by the Songye and Luba people of Central Africa from the Woods Davy and Kathleen Dantini Collection, on view from April 14 through August 11, 2024.   

“Around the world, masks are one of the most consistently communicative art forms, and this is especially true of those made by the Songye and Luba people. This exhibition is a unique opportunity to see masterworks of this type of African art, which are imbued with tradition, history, power, and beauty,” notes Scott A. Shields, the Crocker’s Ted and Melza Barr Chief Curator & Associate Director. “The exhibition offers an extension to the Museum’s African art collection and adds new context to the permanent-collection works on view.” 

Called Kifwebe, which simply means “mask,” these powerful, sculptural visages were worn only by male initiates of secret brotherhoods (called Bwadi bwa Kifwebe), which sought village harmony. For the Songye, this was achieved through a balance of good and evil forces, though for the Luba people all masks could be benevolent. In both cultures, the masks historically represented a powerful combination of human, animal, and spirit. They vary in size from large helmets worn on the head to small maskettes, symbols of the Kifwebe society, some worn as pendants, used by diviners, or attached to costumes.  
 
Masks were most often worn with a tight-fitting, net-like costume made of vegetal fibers that completely covered the wearer’s body. Mask-wearers appeared at sacred and secular ceremonies, including funerals, initiations, the investiture of new chiefs, rites of protection, new moon rites, witchcraft and sorcery, and healing rituals. Secular events included playful presentations and festivals. Until recently, Songye male masks were also worn for social control and punishing miscreants. Today, the masks are worn primarily to pass down cultural history through theatrical performances and entertainment, though they retain the traditional forms connected to the ancestors and supernatural forces.  
 
Both male and female masks are carved with closely set grooves that radiate in curves or geometric patterns, a trait that characterizes masks of the Songye and Luba. When in motion, light from the sun or a fire would create a rippling effect across the face. Most Songye male masks are distinguished by a raised coxcomb-like crest (which typically extends from the nose to the back of head). Male masks of the Kalebwe subgroup additionally exhibit jutting or “telescoping” eyes, and a projecting, rectangular mouth. Female masks are subtler, with large but compressed eyes, a smaller mouth, and are mostly white with a low or flat crest, like Eastern Luba masks. The forms of each gender in the Songye culture express their meaning: the thrusting forms of the males connote aggression, malevolence, or danger; the softer, rounder forms of the females bespeaking composure, benevolence, and affection/care. The masks’ striated colors are also symbolic of complementary and/or contrasting forces. Shades of red were “hot,” the color of fire and blood, and therefore dangerous and powerful. Black equated to night and shadows, evoking the unseen spirit world. White was meant to be “cool,” suggesting nurturance and fertility, as well as purity and peace.  

This exhibition includes over 30 full-size masks and 20 additional small maskettes.