Face Mask (Ngady Mwaash)
Late 19th-mid 20th century
Kuba Kasai region, Democratic Republic of the Congo Central Africa
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The ngady mwaash mask honors the role of women in Kuba life. It portrays a woman but, like other masks in Africa, is performed by a man. The most popular appearance of ngady mwaash is in a pantomime about the kingdom’s creation: ngady mwaash dances together with the mooshamb-wooy mask, representing the king (who is both her brother and her husband), and the bwoom mask [See 1982.1506].
Wood, pigment, glass beads, cowrie shells, fabric, and thread