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The Mwali Ceremony Images of the Mwali ceremony - Circa 1990 - Western Zambia.
Traditional African body paint and scarification.
These images were taken in the early 1990's at a mwali ceremony, north west of Kabompo.
The writer has seen Katemokavamwali danced at the boys Mukanda .
Ila Speaking Girl - Zambia
Miniature hoes called Katemokavamwali were danced at female imitations called mwali in Angola, DRC - Congo and Western Zambia. Katemokavamwali literally means the hoe of the female initiate. Katemo is hoe, vamwali is of (va) women (mwali) or female initiate... so; Katemo ka vamwali.
For the most part blades were carved from wood or forged by an ironsmith. This example has a wooden blade, was once part of the Southern African Heinz Papen Collection and most likely dates to 1900 -1920.
This object is available from Galerie Ezakwantu at the Status Objects page.
The wooden blades underside has the initials MD carved into a backdrop of a larger "D".
The object may have been offered at a presentation to an important official.
A second example on offer boasts a laminated ivory hilt and blade.
Click Thumbnails for
Detailed Images
By the 20th century, perhaps before, a tradition of laminating flywhisks, staffs and chimbuya axes with sections of ivory had been established. This is one of only two Katemokavamwali known to us with ivory blades.
More here including Scarification - Piercing - Stretching - Filing - Deforming - Mutilation
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