84
FIGS. 1 and 2 (left and
right): Masked dancers
with barkcloth costumes.
C. 1950.
Photographer unknown.
Tribal Art magazine archives.
Although wood is abundant in the
northeastern part of the Democratic Republic of
the Congo where they live, the Komo are not sculptors.
1 They create a variety of fi gurines for their
many initiation rites, but these are crudely carved
from the trunks of banana trees and they are discarded
soon after use. However, a single mask
type, or, more precisely, a pair of masks, is found
among the Komo. These are called nsembú and are
displayed only within the ceremonial context of a
major divination ritual.
FIG. 3 (far right): Detail of
Komo mask described in
fi gure 9.
Private collection.
Tribal Art magazine archives.
FEATURE
The Komo Mask
A Unique and Unifying Object
By Wauthier de Mahieu
