Yaka (Bayaka),
Yaka kholuka ceremonial
mask. Established in the southwest of DRC, the Yaka number some 300,000
individuals. The men traditionally practiced hunting, while the women cultivated manioc,
yams, peas, pineapples and peanuts. The masks are the work of a sculptor who carries out
his art well away from the initiation enclosure, also separated from the view of other
villagers. The sculptural composition of this mask is typical of Yaka works. The face
features are painted with bright colors on white background. The ensemble is framed by the
sizeable mass of a coiffure in raffia fiber, this surmounted by a hat made from armature
of vegetable fiber and covered with a resin-coated tissue. The kholuka mask which
is very popular among the Yaka dances alone at the end of celebrations. The whole mask
refers to the power of the elders and their predecessors, and every element of the mask is
the plastic translation of a cosmological term. The
image of the figure on top of the mask is borrowed from a folklore subject. Generally such
masks were used only once.
Material: wood, raffia, tissue, vegetable fiber
Size: H. 27, W. 12, D. 13