African Fine Arts - AFRICAN-ART

Yaka Helmet Crest - Congo
Yaka artistic tradition is rich and various, but much of it has been informed by their neighbors, the Suku, the Kongo, the Holo and the Teke. Nevertheless Yaka masks and statues do have common characteristics such as the upturned nose (an allusion to the male sex) and applied pigments. Yaka masks are worn predominantly during initiation ceremonies related to the Ngoni and the Yiwilla societies. The ceremonies performed by this style of mask are intended to further adolescent boys’ social and physical maturity, and in particular to insure their virility as a guarantee of the community’s future. The dances are accompanied by songs concerned with adult masculinity, intended to confirm the new social status of the young men.