|

Cover photo: Pwo mask.
Cokwe, early 20th century. Wood, clay, fibers, pigment;
20cm (7.9"). Birmingham Museum of Art, Museum purchase,
1998.6.

1. Pwo mask. Chokwe, early 20th century. Wood, fibers,
metal, shell, pigment;
25.4cm (10"). The University of Iowa Museum of Art,
Stanley Collection, 1986.545.
This mask exhibits Chokwe stylistic traits such as the
half-closed, almond-shaped
eyes within concave eye orbits, filed teeth, and
C-shaped ears. Its fine coiffure is partially carved in
wood as an extension of the mask. The metal tacks
and shell are meant to beautify and honor the female ancestor
represented.

2.
Pwo mask. Chokwe, late 19th/early 20th century, field
collected by Frobenius.
Wood, clay, fibers, metal, pigment, fur, snakeskin, and
other materials; 21cm
(8.3"). Collection of Mr. Helmut F Stern.
This elegant and expressive mask successfully blends
stylized and naturalistic
facial features. The forehead displays an unusual
version of the chingelyengelye cross motif, a
scarification design commonly interpreted in the
literature as a
version of the imported Portuguese Cross of the Order of
Christ. Cross
motifs have been found in rock engravings and paintings
in Angolan archaeological sites.

3. Thirty Pwo masks on display at the Museu do Dundo. From
Fontinha 1997:29, fig. 49.
Dundo is a town in northeastern Angola near the
Democratic Republic of the Congo. Chokwe and other
related peoples share similar mask making traditions on
both sides of the border.

4.
Pwo mask. Lwena or Luvale, early 20th century. Wood,
fiber, pigment;
20.3cm (8"). Private U.S. collection.
Probably of Lwena manufacture, this mask combines Chokwe
and Lwena
stylistic tendencies. This style of Pwo, with its
particular treatment of the hair,
is favored in areas of western and northwestern Zambia,
where the Lwena
are known as Luvale.

5.
Pwo mask. Lwena or Luvale, early 20th century. Wood,
metal, string, pigment; 27.9cm (11"). The Minneapolis
Institute of Arts, The John R. Van Derlip
Fund, 89.15.
The
tall, rounded coiffure with incised lines probably
indicates the high status
of the female ancestor represented. Pwo, or "woman," is
a generic term for
such masks, but specific masked ancestral spirits may
be addressed
using the actual
name of the woman/ancestor meant to be honored by the
community or
by the family hosting an initiation camp.

6.
Pwevo/Pwo mask. Luvale or Luchazi, mid-20th century.
Wood, fibers,
pigment; 20.3cm (87 Private U.S. collection.
In
Zambia, where this mask was probably collected, the
Luvale and Luchazi
name for Pwo is Pwevo.
Luvale and Luchazi mask-carving styles are closely
related. In the case of masks such as this one, it is
almost impossible to make a distinction.

7.
Pwo mask. Lwena, early 20th century. Wood, feathers,
fiber, metal,
leather, pigment; 31.1cm (12.3'). Private European
collection.
This
example conforms to a defined Lwena style that is
distinguished by
gentle lines, a tendency toward naturalism, and a taste
for round, full forms.
In 1997 I showed a photo of this mask to various Zambian friends
(Luvale, Lunda, and Chokwe), who said the mask
represented a female chief. Its
elaborate coiffure,
feathered headdress, and overall elegance were key to
this interpretation.

8.
This illustration of an Angolan Pwo performer was
published by Portuguese
explorer Henrique Carvalho (1890:245). The mask is
similar to examples
found among Lwena and Luchazi in Angola south and east
of the town of Moxico in Angola and in areas of western
and northwestern Zambia.

9.
Pwevo/Pwo mask. Luchazi, early 20th century. Wood,
fibers, pigment;
20.3cm (8'). Molly and Walter Bareiss Family Collection.
This
mask, probably a Zambian or Angolan Luchazi example,
resembles
the
one illustrated by Carvalho in its rounded facial
contours and open eyes
and
mouth. Elements of a Chokwe Pwo carving style are still
evident, but the
treatment of forms reflects a different aesthetic. The
style is less idiosyncratic but equally expressive and
dramatic.

10.
Pwevo/Pwo mask. Luchazi, mid-20th century. Wood, fibers,
beads, pigment;
17cm (6.8"). Private European collection.
This
well-documented mask was collected in a Luchazi village
in northwestern
Zambia. When it was photographed in the field in 1971 (Kubik
1993), it wore a
different coiffure and beaded hair decorations.
Pwo/Pwevo hair and
hair ornaments are often replaced. Wooden masks are well
kept and sometimes inherited through generations.

11.
A Luvale Mwana Pwevo ("young woman") mask performing
during confirmatory
ceremonies honoring Luvale Paramount Chief Ndungu.
Zambia,
1997. Photo Manuel Jordan.
A fiber-and-resin mask
representing a more immature young woman, Chiwigi,
is visible at right. The masks share the positive influences of the
ancestral spirits with the community and show
contrasting or comparable social and moral
values.

12. Pwo/Pwevo mask with partial
costume, mid-20th century. Luchazi or Luvale. Wood,
fibers, pigment. Private European collection.
Masks
representing "old women" are mentioned in the literature
pertaining to
Chokwe and related peoples, but none were identified and
illustrated as such
until recently. Zambian field consultants identified
this Luvale or
Luchazi mask
(retaining part of its original body covering) as an old
woman, called Kashinakaji.

13. Pwo/Pwevo mask. Luvale, early 20th century. Wood,
pigment; 21.6cm (8.5"). Private European collection.
This Zambian example has a rather stoic expression,
elaborate scarification
details, and consecutive arched elements above the
forehead that resemble
the crowns worn by male and female chiefs. This version
of a mature
and
accomplished woman was created to honor a female chief
or a woman in a
royal lineage. |
|
R E V I S I T
I N G
Pwo
MANUEL JORDáN
African Arts,
Vol. 33, No. 4. (Winter, 2000), pp. 16-25; 92-93.
Chikufwinda tuhu mwosi
nchawa.
"It is smoking but there is no firewood."
Anthropologist Victor Turner documented this
Lunda-Ndembu proverb in Zambia, and with the aid of an
interpreter he provided the following explanation:
"Often a lot of smoke comes from a kitchen, but on
inspection there are no more than one or two pieces of
firewood; one must not be deceived by imposing external
appearances, for in reality there may be little
substance behind them."1
Since the 1930s the systematic documentation of various
aspects of the life and culture of Chokwe, Lwena
(Luvale), Lunda, and other related peoples of Angola,
the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zambia has
greatly increased, thanks to the efforts of scholars
such as Hermann Baumann (1935), Jose Redinha (1965,
1974), Charles M. N. White (1961), Marie-Louise Bastin
(1961, 1982), Victor Turner (1967), Gerhard Kubik
(1971), and Manuel L. Rodrigues de Areia (1985).2 Recent
fieldwork pursued by anthropologists and art historians
including Filip de Boek (1991), Manuela Palmeirim
(1994), Elisabeth Cameron (1995), Boris Wastiau (1997),
Sonia Silva (1998), and this author (Jordan 1996) has
added to the body of knowledge established in previous
generations. All of us have benefited from the rich
accounts provided by explorers and ethnographers such
as Hermenegildo Capelo and Robert Ivens (1881), Serpa
Pinto (1881), Verney L. Cameron (1877), Henrique A. Dias
de Carvalho (1890), Fonseca Cardoso (1919), Dugald
Campbell (1922), and others who traversed the lands of
these Central African peoples more than one hundred
years ago.
In all, there is a significant amount of ethnographic
material and a number of excellent anthropological
studies that range in focus from the economy of the
region to its ritual practices and cosmological views.
However, in many ways the study of its arts is in its
infancy. To return to the proverb at the beginning of
this essay, in terms of Chokwe and related peoples, the
only pieces of firewood in the art historical kitchen
were placed there by one dedicated scholar,
Marie-Louise Bastin, whose oeuvre remains the main
source for any consideration of Chokwe art.3 Her
postulated styles of Chokwe sculpture (Bastin 1976,
1982) and the sculpture of the Lwena, Songo, Ovimbundu,
Ngangela, and others (Bastin 1971) have given us a solid
basis for attributing to these peoples countless works
of art in private and museum collections.4 Bastin's
numerous scholarly contributions provide a core
theoretical (art historical) model that invites further
analysis. These arts are so diverse and complex that
even some of the more well-known forms remain vastly
understudied or misunderstood.5
To
illustrate this point, this article will focus on Pwo
("woman"), a popular ancestral mask character, or akishi,
for Chokwe, Lwena (known as Luvale in areas of western
Zambia), Lunda, and their neighbors .6 Pwo is a familiar
face in most museum and private collections (Fig. 1).
Pwo,
Dundo Style
The
most discernible elements of a Chokwe style of wooden
mask carving have been well defined. Bastin describes
their Pwo masks (Figs. 2, Cover):
In the wooden masks, the eyes are usually elliptical or
almond-
shaped and generally half-closed. The swollen eyelids
are
prolonged down to the center of the concave eye-sockets.
Sometimes the eyes are globular and have horizontal
slits.
Occasionally the forehead has a carved head-band. The
ears
are nearly always curved or else semi-circular with the
tragus
shown. The traditional scarification are usually
engraved, cut
away, incrusted or carved in relief.
(Bastin 1982:90)
To
this list of elements one may also add the sharply
defined mouth, partially open, its protruding flattened
lips framing filed triangular teeth.7 Bastin's close
observation of numerous Pwo mask examples at the Museu
do Dundo in Angola, as illustrated in her book Art
decoratif tshokwe (1961), helped her reaffirm what she
called Chokwe "traditional canons" that reflect the
"collective concept of ancestral spirits" (Bastin
1982:90).8 The study of art styles found in a
Portuguese-sponsored museum located in Chokwe territory9
brings forth several issues that are relevant to this
contemplation of Pwo masks.
One important Dundo museum photograph (Fig. 3) shows 30
Pwo masks displayed on glass shelves in the Sala da
Crença Animista, or "Room of Animist Belief." They are
part of a collection that in the 1950s included 110
wooden masks, including numerous Pwo examples, and 67
fiber-and-resin masks of various types (Porto
1999:104-5).10 The masks illustrated in this photograph
confirm the general accuracy of Bastin's description of
this style for the Chokwe: all of them share
similarities in the stylization of the eyes, in the
formal treatment of the mouth, nose, and ears, and, in
most cases, in facial scarification details.11
However, there are obvious differences in the conception
of these masks. Some tend toward naturalism, while
others exhibit varying degrees of stylization,
particularly in the eyes and mouth as well as in the
overall contours of the face, which may be oval,
angular, or elongated. Even if one allows for individual
artistic creativity as an influence in this variation
(Bastin 1982:90), the fact remains that not all the
masks in the Dundo photograph are "purely" Chokwe. In
fact, some are catalogued as Shinji (western neighbors
of the Chokwe in northeastern Angola), and others are
similar to masks documented among the Songo in central
Angola, though they may not necessarily carry that
attribution (Jordan et al. 1998: fig. 60).12 A couple of
other masks in the photograph show Upper Zambezi
stylistic tendencies: they suggest a transitional style
between stereotypical Chokwe and Lwena /Luvale styles,
an exchange of influences acknowledged by Jose Redinha
(1965:36-37), who collected most of the Museu do Dundo's
pieces (Fig. 4).
Bastin explains that a Lwena style of carving (related
to that of the Chokwe) is distinguished by the
"gentleness of its lines," a tendency toward naturalism,
and a taste for round and full forms (1969:49).13 Lwena
Pwo masks sometimes incorporate tall, rounded coiffures
(Figs. 5-7). Although not shown in the Dundo photograph,
at least a couple of Pwo examples in the museum
accurately fit the Lwena style description (Bastin 1961:
figs. 261, 262). However, a large number of Dundo masks
depart from an essentially Chokwe stylistic canon and
inconclusively hint at other attributions.
Most of the masks were originally collected under
Redinha's direction, and others were acquired by Hermann
Baumann; both men pursued independent collecting
campaigns through parts of central, eastern, and
northeastern Angola from the 1930s to the 1950s (Areia
1995:11-18).14 To some extent the stylistic variation
evident in the photograph may be attributed to a
combination of elements, but it most probably reflects a
sampling of styles and substyles favored in different
areas. Because Bastin gained access to the Dundo
collection in the 1950s, when all these Pwo masks were
in the context of a Chokwe stronghold, she never
approached the pieces in their diversity but rather saw
them through the eyes of local Chokwe informants. As
familiar as these masks may seem, we still do not have a
grasp on the stylistic complexities of the region, a
problem compounded by the lack of documentation for
these and many other collected masks.15
Carvalho's
early (1890) illustration of a Chokwe mask performer
(Fig. 8) is relevant to this argument. The performer
wears a face mask (identified as Pwo in Bastin 1982:90)
that does not clearly fit within the described canons of
a Chokwe style. Its subtly conceived anthropomorphic
face has open, round eyes and mouth16 and is devoid of
scarification details.17 This mask actually has more in
common with Lwena/Luvale and Luchazi examples documented
in eastern Angola and western and northwestern Zambia
(Fig. 9; see also Jordan et al. 1998: figs. 64, 66, 67;
Felix & Jordan 1998) than it does with most of the masks
collected for the Dundo museum and attributed to the
Chokwe.18
Carvalho's
illustration supports the idea that in the late
nineteenth century at least two clearly discernible
stylistic approaches or trends in the manufacture of Pwo
masks were established in Angola. In addition to the
more elaborate tendency that remains close to Bastin's
definition of a Chokwe style, as seen in the most of the
masks in the Dundo collection, there was a more
minimalistic but equally refined and expressive style.19
The latter is depicted in Carvalho's illustration and
found in numerous Pwo examples collected in eastern and
southeastern Angola, as well as in western and
northwestern Zambia. Efforts to distinguish Congolese (D.R.C.),
Angolan, and Zambian Pwo styles are beside the point.
People, like good ideas, cross all boundaries, and
similar Pwo styles are commonly found on both sides of
the political borders of this region.20
A
generalization that may have some validity supports two
major (northern and southern) stylistic zones. One lies
north and northeast of Muzamba, the Chokwe "country of
origin" in northeastern Angola (Bastin 1982:246), where
Chokwe and their Minungu, Songo, and Shinji neighbors
continue to create versions of Pwo that depart from a
Chokwe stylistic canon (Felix 1997:105-11). The second
is south and east/southeast of Moxico (in
central-eastern Angola), where the Lwena/Luvale and
Luchazi probably sowed their own stylistic seeds that
may have developed separately or in combination with the
often distinct and subtle southern styles of the
southern Lunda, Mbunda, Mbwela, and Ngangela (Fig. 10;
Felix and Jordan 1998; Kubik 1993:25, 98-99). Within
these predominant northern and southern styles, specific
group attributions are often possible, but without
concrete field documentation such an exercise would
remain highly speculative.
Considerable ethnic integration (marriages, alliances,
clans, shared territories, shared initiation camps)
occurs in all these neighboring areas, and commissioning
masks from one carver in one or another style is not
uncommon (Felix and Jordan 1998). In the case of the
Dundo museum collection, it is also significant that the
Pwo masks were available to performers who wore them in
dances held in the context of a Dundo "cultural
village," where Portuguese and other European visitors
constituted the main audience (see Areia 1995; Porto
1999). Most important, a number of carvers in
museum-sponsored "crafts" workshops created wooden
sculptures, including various versions of Pwo masks,
"inspired" by pieces in the Dundo collection that had
been collected in widely dispersed regions of Angola (Areia
1995:174-75).21 In that context, the institution became
a new source for the imitation of stylistic canons, a
development that must have affected the natural flow of
ideas; masks created in and around the town may reflect
styles more common in other areas of Angola. In many
ways the Museu do Dundo was a supermarket of regional
art forms divorced from most of their original cultural
framework.
Ironically, the most common form of Pwo mask among
Chokwe and related peoples is a nonwooden version made
from pitch or tar over a framework of bent branches to
which facial details are applied in bands of white and
red cloth or paper. Until recently (Jordan 1993; Felix
& Jordan 1998) it was not given proper attention. Bastin
did not have access to such types, probably because the
collectors for the Dundo museum were not interested in
masks made from ephemeral materials. That led her to
note that "very few Pwo masks in resin are known,"
although she provided an accurate description of the
type: "...the features are standardized but less
pronounced. A sort of rectangular domino in red cloth
normally covers the eyes and nose. The mouth is small"
(1982:90). That description generally applies to such
masks representing male and female characters. Even
today they far outnumber similar characters in wood.22
The failure to recognize the complexities of Chokwe and
related art styles has in my opinion resulted in
shortcomings in the established canon. These are easily
matched by those in the documented descriptions of the
context for akishi masquerades and their attributed
meaning or meanings.
Understanding
Pwo
The
importance or sociocultural relevance of Chokwe and
related masquerades has consistently been dismissed by
scholars, who usually treat the subject as peripheral to
what they deem to be more important ritual processes or
symbolic structures.23 C. M. N. White (1948:13) most
clearly expresses his lack of interest in what he seems
to see as evidence of the "degeneration" of the culture
of a distant past.24 White comments on Lunda and Luvale
masquerades in Zambia:
The circumcision ceremonies of the Lunda and Luvale
tribes are characterized by the makishi dancers—mask
dancers who vary from tribe to tribe. It is impossible
to
describe them in any detail here, and it must suffice to
say that they usually wear fiber costumes covering the
whole body and have distinctive headdresses, often very
elaborate. To some extent they have today degenerated
to
become itinerant clowns and lost their original status,
and this particularly refers to the mwana-pwevo.25
Recent fieldwork focusing on the role of masquerades in
Zambia (Cameron 1995; Jordan 1993, 1996) provides an
alternative view, documenting how akishi (makishi in
Zambia) masquerades represent aspects of the shared
cosmologies of Chokwe, Lunda, Lwena/Luvale, and related
peoples. Within a large repertoire of mask character
types, Pwo (Pwevo in Zambia)—the "woman" or female
ancestor—and Mwana Pwo (Mwana Pwevo in Zambia; Fig.
11)—"the young woman"—actually perform a crucial role in
transmitting culturally relevant information, mainly in
the context of the mukanda male initiation.26 The
"woman" and "young woman" masks represent ideal and
comparable models for a "fulfilled" versus a "potential"
woman (Cameron 1998a, 1998b; Jordan 1998). Such
associative elements are further developed by these
peoples' creation of other female mask types, including
an "immature woman," a mother, an old woman (Fig. 12),
and a female chief (Jordan 1998; Felix & Jordan 1998).
The identification of some masks as representing female
chiefs (or female ancestors perceived as bearers of
royal lineages) is based on the recent field
documentation of one Chokwe fiberand-resin mask
representing Lweji, the first Lunda female chief (Jordan
1993:50, 2000:90), together with the field
identification (based on photographs of specific masks)
of various Pwo-related masks with exceptionally
elaborate coiffures (Figs. 7,13). Some of the hairstyles
include consecutive arched diadems that resemble the
crowns worn by male and female chiefs in Angola, the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zambia (Jordan et
al. 1998: fig. 65; Felix & Jordan 1998:176-77,
180-81).27
Akishi
masquerades, like many other art forms created by the
peoples concerned here, evoke cosmological precepts and
serve to present and represent principles of social and
political organization, history, philosophy, religion,
and morality (Jordan 1998:67). These principles are
shared but also distinct in that they may respond to
local interpretations of broader regional or overarching
cultural models. Further studies of regional art styles
and types will probably better reflect these peoples'
sociocultural and political complexities, because
intended modes of representation give shape to defined
(shared or distinct) values or norms.
This article is a brief initial reflection on the
established body of knowledge regarding the arts of
Chokwe and related peoples. Strong field documentation
will be crucial in corroborating or reconsidering
theories. By revisiting Pwo, a familiar and celebrated
mask, I have been able to outline issues that I will
continue to address in future publications.
Notes:
1.
Victor Turner, undated and unpublished manuscript, the
University of Zambia.
2.
Research by historians such as Joseph Miller (1969),
archaeologists including Carlos Everdosa (1980), and
others has also contributed to the body of documentation
relevant to the peoples discussed here.
3.
Although Jose Redinha in particular (1965, 1974) made
major contributions to art history in the region, he
focused mainly on collecting and cataloguing pieces, and
to some extent describing them. Bastin was concerned
with analyzing art styles and types, and identifying
specific symbols that she interpreted with the aid of
assistants.
4.
Besides generally addressing style distinctions among
these peoples, Bastin (1982:246-87) discusses a "style
of the country of origin" and an "expansion style" meant
to distinguish nineteenth-century court art styles,
mainly in figurative sculpture.
5.
If one were to survey a number of museum and private
collections, and published exhibition catalogues, it
would appear that Chokwe and related peoples created
only a handful of mask types. In fact they have a large
repertoire of ancestral mask characters, most of which
remain under documented. This situation is due in part
to collectors' taste for wooden (vs. fiber and resin)
examples. Wood is used in a selected number of character
types including Pwo, Chihongo (male chiefly ancestor),
and a few animals. Similarly, nineteenth-century royal
figures have been the subject of several articles,
although there is little or no documentation to explain
their actual context and use. The more schematized hamba
ancestral figures, another example, remain grossly
understudied.
6.
Some Lunda call the female character Mubanda, which also
means "woman." Other names are also used.
7.
The teeth recall the practice of teeth filing that was
favored by the Chokwe.
8.
Throughout her career, which spanned more than forty
years, Mme. Bastin visited and studied a great number of
museum collections, and almost everything Chokwe-related
was in one way or another brought to her attention. I
focus on her Dundo study here because it solidified the
definitions of Pwo styles and meanings that still shape
our approach to such masks.
9.
For an excellent study of the Dundo museum Portuguese
colonial campaign in Angola, see Porto (1999). Dundo was
established by the former Portuguese Companhia de
Diamantes de Angola (Portuguese Diamond Company of
Angola).
10.
The sixty-seven fiber and resin masks apparently did not
include any versions of Pwo made in those materials.
11.
This defined style is applicable to other Chokwe
anthropomorphic wooden masks such as Chihongo, the male
counterpart of Pwo.
12.
It is impossible to ascertain whether the Songo-collected
example is actually Songo. It may very well have been
carved by a Chokwe artist and bought by a Songo client.
The opposite alternative is also possible, because
masks in the same style have been documented among the
Chokwe as well as the Songo.
13.
Here Bastin applies an earlier definition of a Lunda
style of carving (which she considers nonexistent) to
the Lwena.
14.
Baumann collected a number of pieces that he meant to
take to Germany, but because of exportation restrictions
they were left at the Dundo museum. He had earlier
collected other excellent pieces that are now in Berlin.
15.
A zoomorphic wooden sculpture (in my opinion a mask made
to be placed atop the head as opposed to the face),
excavated in central Angola and (carbon-14) dated to
over 1,000 years ago, indicates an artistic tradition
that predates the presence of Chokwe-related peoples in
the same locale. The fact that zoomorphic masks,
documented in the region since the nineteenth century,
exhibit similar stylistic traits suggests a continuity
that can be traced to an ancient, local model. That
Chokwe became the dominant art emissaries does not mean
they were the originators of particular art forms,
types, and styles.
16. It may be argued that the image represents the
illustrator's general or interpreted version of what
the mask or mask performer actually looked like.
However, given the large number of illustrations
published by Carvalho, and the degree of detail in all
the objects and scenes illustrated, I believe that the
illustration is probably accurate.
17.
Not all masks show scarification details. None or few
scarifications often indicate that the character
portrayed is a young person—in this case a young woman,
or Mwana Pwo.
18.
I base this observation on numerous examples I have seen
in field performances in Zambia as well as on my study
of over two hundred masks (several well documented, in
private and museum collections) that are from the
mentioned regions and display similar stylistic traits
(Felix & Jordan 1998).
19.
This. point is significant because it refutes the idea
that more subtle styles are decadent or artistically
less accomplished versions of an older "classic" canon.
20.
It certainly is important to document Chokwe styles in
the Democratic Republic of the Congo as they may relate
to those of neighbors such as the Mbangani, Luluwa,
Pende, and others.
21. A selection of these pieces, made by master carvers
for export, is now housed at the Coimbra University in
Portugal.
22. Wooden masks are commissioned from professional
carvers at great cost. The fiber and resin, or soft,
versions of masks may be constructed by any person who
learns the skills in an initiation camp. They are
therefore more common because they are relatively
inexpensive, yet equally functional as forms that
relate to ancestral representation.
23.
In fact masquerades bring forth similarly important
cosmological principles.
24.
I do not mean to detract from White's immense
contributions to the study of these related peoples in
Zambia. The fact remains, however, that he, like other
scholars, did not carefully consider the role of masks
in the context of mukanda initiations.
25.
The word "clown" or "clowns" relates to aspects of
akishi/makishi performances that are highly
entertaining. Nevertheless the performances are very
complex, and the demeanor of these characters changes
according to specific ritual requirements.
26.
These masks also perform during political rallies,
chiefs' investitures or confirmatory ceremonies, and on
other occasions.
27.
The Lwena/Luvale and Lunda (in Zambia) in particular
have had very prominent female chiefs. Some, like
Southern Lunda female chief Nyakulenga in northwestern
Zambia, continue to rule today with political powers
that are equal to those of other male chiefs.
References
cited
Areia,
Manuel L. Rodrigues de. 1985. Les symboles divinatoires:
Analyse socio-culturelle d'une technique de divination
des Cokwe de l'Angola. Coimbra, Portugal: Centro de
Estudos.
Areia,
Manuel L. Rodrigues de. 1995. Diamang: Estudo do
patrimOnio cultural da Ex-Companhia de Diamantes de
Angola. Coimbra, Portugal: Museu Antropolegico da
Universidade de Coimbra.
Bastin,
Marie-Louise. 1961. Art decoratif tshokwe. Lisbon: Museu
do Dundo.
Bastin,
Marie-Louise. 1969. "Arts of the Angolan Peoples, Part
II: Lwena," Arts d'Afrique Noire 2:46-68, 77-80.
Bastin, Marie-Louise. 1971. "Y a-t-il des des pour
distinguer les styles Tshokwe, Lwena, Songo, Ovimbundu,
et Ngangela?" Africa Terveuren 17, 1:5-18.
Bastin,
Marie-Louise. 1976. "Les styles de la sculpture tshokwe,"
Arts d'Afrique Noire, 19:16-35.
Bastin,
Marie-Louise. 1982. La sculpture tshokwe. In French and
English. Meudon: Main et Francoise Chaffin.
Baumann,
Hermann. 1935. Lunda. Bei Bauern und Jagern in
Inner-Angola. Berlin: Wiirfel Verlag.
Boeck, Filip de. 1991. "From Knots to Web: Fertility,
Life- transmission, Health and Well-being among the
Aluund of Southwest Zaire." Ph.D. dissertation, Catholic
University of Louvain.
Cameron, Elisabeth L. 1995. "Negotiating Gender:
Initiation Arts of Mwali and Mukanda among the Lunda and
Luvale, Kabompo District, North-Western Province,
Zambia." Ph.D. dissertation, University of California,
Los Angeles.
Cameron, Elisabeth L. 1998a. "Potential and Fulfilled
Woman: Initiations, Sculpture, and Masquerades in
Kabompo District, Zambia," in Chokwe! Art and Initiation
among Chokwe and Related Peoples, ed. Manuel Jordan, pp.
77-83. Munich: Prestel Publications for the Birmingham
Museum of Art.
Cameron,
Elisabeth L. 1998b. "Women=Masks: Initiation Arts in
North-Western Province, Zambia," African Arts 31,
2:50-61.
Cameron, Verney Lovett. 1877. Across Africa. New York:
Harper & Brothers.
Campbell,
Dugald. 1922. In the Heart of Bantuland. London: Seeley,
Service & Co.
Capelo,
Hermenegildo and Roberto Evens. 1881. De Benguella as
terras de Meat: Descripcdo de uma viagem na Africa
central e occidental. 2 vols. Lisbon: Imprensa Nacional.
Cardoso, A. da Fonseca. 1919 (1903). Em terras do Moxico.
Trabalhos da Sociedade Portuguésa de Antropologia e
Etnologia, Porto, 1.
Carvalho,
Henrique A. Dias de. 1890. Ethnographia e histOria
traditional dos povos da Lunda. Lisbon: Imprensa
Nacional. Everdosa, Carlos. 1980. Arqueologia angolana.
Lisbon: EdicOes 70.
Felix, Marc L. 1997. "Masking Zaire" in Masks-Might and
Magic: Dance Masks from Zaire. Denmark: Kunsthallen
Brandts Klaedefabrik.
Felix,
Marc L. and Manuel Jordan. 1998. Makishi Lya Zambia:
Mask Characters of the Upper Zambezi Peoples. Munich:
Fred Jahn Publications.
Fontinha,
Mario. [1997.] Ngombo (adivinhaeao): Tradieks no
Nordeste de Angola. Oeiras (Portugal): Camara Municipal
de Oieras.
Jordan,
Manuel. 1993. "Le masque comme processus ironique: Les
makishi du nord-ouest de la Zombie," Anthropologic et
Societês 17, 3:41-46.
Jordan,
Manuel. 1996. "Tossing Life in a Basket: Art and
Divination among Chokwe, Lunda, Luvale and Related
Peoples of Northwestern Zambia." Ph.D. dissertation. The
University of Iowa, Iowa City.
Jordan,
Manuel. 1998. "Engaging the Ancestors: Makishi
Masquerades and the Transmission of Knowledge among
Chokwe and Related Peoples," in Chokwe! Art and
Initiation among Chokwe and Related Peoples, ed. Manuel
Jordan, pp. 67-75. Munich: Prestel Publications for the
Birmingham Museum of Art.
Jordan,
Manuel (ed.). 1998. Chokwe! Art and Initiation among
Chokwe and Related Peoples. Munich: Prestel Publications
for the Birmingham Museum of Art.
Jordan,
Manuel. 2000. "The Arts of Chokwe and Related Peoples,"
in In the Presence of Spirits: African Art from the
National Museum of Ethnology, Lisbon. Gent: Snoek-Ducaju
for the Museum for African Art, New York.
Kubik,
Gerhard. 1971. "Die Institution mukanda and assoziierte
Einrichtungen bei den Vambwela/Vankangela und verwandten
Ethnien in Siidostangola." Ph.D. dissertation, Wien
University, Institute of Art.
Kubik,
Gerhard. 1993. Makisi, Nyau, Mapiko. Munich: Trickster
Publications.
Miller,
Joseph. 1969. Cokwe Expansion 1850-1900. Madison:
University of Wisconsin.
Palmeirim,
Manuela. 1994. "Of Alien Kings and Ancestral Chiefs: An
Essay on the Ideology of Kingship among the Aruwund."
Ph.D. dissertation, School of Oriental and African
Studies, University of London.
Pinto,
Serpa. 1881. How I Crossed Africa. London: Sampson Low,
Marston, Searle & Rivington.
Porto,
Nuno. 1999. Angola a Preto e Branco: Fotografia e
ciencia no Museu do Dundo, 1940-1970. Coimbra, Portugal:
Museu AntropolOgico da Universidade de Coimbra.
Redinha, Jose. 1965. Mascaras e mascarados angolanos.
Luanda, Angola: Imprensa Nacional.
Redinha, Jose. 1974. Etnias e culturas angolanos.
Luanda, Angola: Istituto de Investigacao Cientffica de
Angola.
Silva, Sonia. 1998. "The Birth of a Divination Basket,"
in Chokwe! Art and Initiation among Cholcwe and Related
Peoples, ed. Manuel Jordan, pp. 141-51. Munich: Prestel
Publications for the Birmingham Museum of Art.
Turner,
Victor. 1967. The Forest of Symbols: Aspects of Ndembu
Ritual. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Wastiau, Boris. 1997. "Mahamba: The Transforming Arts of
Spirit Possession among the Luvale-speaking People of
the Upper Zambezi." Ph.D. dissertation, University of
East Anglia.
White, C. M. N. 1948. "The Material Culture of the
LundaLovale Peoples," in The Occasional Papers of the
Rhodes- Livingstone Museum 3. Manchester University
Press for Rhodes-Livingstone Museum.
White,
C. M. N. 1961. "Elements in Luvale Beliefs and Rituals,"
in Rhodes-Livingstone Papers 32. Manchester University
Press for Rhodes-Livingstone Institute.
|