Songye Shield with Kifwebe Mask Icon Congo

The wooden shield featuring a Kifwebe mask at its center was prevalent in the Songye region during colonial and pre-independence Congo, a time marked by ethnic conflict and resistance against colonialism. These shields served warriors in battles, enhanced by the Kifwebe mask's protective power, known for its influence in the bwadi bwa kifwebe society's practices of evil magic and witchcraft. Adorned with striations reminiscent of a pugnacious bushbuck antelope, these shields safeguarded the special house housing the masks when not in use. The Songye, based in the southeastern Congo, are renowned for their Kifwebe masks—elongated with symbolic animal linear incisions, boldly painted in black, white, and red—used in spiritual performances to ward off malevolent spirits. Songye art encompasses sculptures depicting humans and animals, typically carved from wood, enjoying international acclaim for its cultural significance and influence on Contemporary art movements, with some pieces housed in the Tervuren Museum and similar examples found in other renowned collections like the Babier-Mueller Museum in Geneva.