Songye people, Zaire wood, paint ht. In some rituals, a mask, or Kifwebe , is worn by a male to represent bush spirits.
Some masks are dark with white striations, and others the reverse.
The masks can either be male or female. Males are sometimes denoted by a white crest, while females are usually mostly white, have a smaller crest, and have closer, finer stripes. The right side of a mask can represent the sun and the left, the moon. The stripes themselves are reminiscent of the bongo antelope, but also carry deep metaphorical meaning. For example, the grooves can be representative of a subterranean spirit world or the cavern from where the first primordial couple emerged.