Label Text:
The people who identify as Holoholo live on the eastern (Tanzanian) and western (Congolese) banks of Lake Tanganika. They are a small population with diverse cultural backgrounds; as a result, their art is often difficult to assign to a particular style. This mask incorporates elements of Tabwa masks, Holoholo’s neighbors to the south, in the rounded helmet shape of the head. But the facial features—such as the thinly slitted, almond-shaped eyes—look like masks carved by nearby Luba artists, or even those from more distant regions such as the Suku or Yaka, who reside on the Angolan border of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Susan E. Kart '96, Assistant Professor of the Arts of Africa, Lehigh University (2018)

Tags:
ceremonies

Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=SC+1982.30.1

Research on objects in the collections, including provenance, is ongoing and may be incomplete. If you have additional information or would like to learn more about a particular object, please email fc-museums-web@fivecolleges.edu.