#katanga

this gave me chills to read. i had no idea that Japanese men were in the Congo for 10 years to work the mines in like the 70s, and fathered many mixed children with the African women there and subsequently & systematically murdered majority of them bc of the Japanese men feeling shame from “mixing blood” with the local women. there are like, 50 sumn Congolese-Japanese survivors left bc their mother’s hid their births from their foreign fathers.

Songye Mask, Democratic Republic of Congo, Katanga.

Presumed period: late 19th century – early 20th century.

This mask is a female “kikashi” mask, as indicated by the two-tone white and black, the absence of a sagittal crest and the flat nose.

Amongst Songye masks, a general distinction was made in reference to the function of male and female masks.

Male masks (bifwebe balume) were used in rites of passage. On the other hand, female masks (bifwebe bakashi), which appeared on the occasion of the death or investiture of a chief and during lunar rites, were an integral part of the symbolic composition of these rituals, animating benevolent spiritual forces through dance.

Wood, pigments, H 31.8 cm

Little Willie John / Katanga

“Great Jungle Exotica/R&B instro issued on King Records.”

KATANGA! Jungle 45 of the Week!: https://www.bossradio66.com/2011/03/jungle-45-of-week_10.html

Mashing Waburaendo - Arc à bouche Kadad from: VA - Anthologie de la musique congolaise vol. 1 - Musique des Lunda du Katanga (Fonti Musicali, 2004)

Field recordings by Jos Gansemans at the court of the Lunda emperor, the “Mwant Yaav” (a divine monarch), in the Katanga Province, 1-19 August 1972.

The influence of the Lunda empire, which dates from the 16th century at least, is still visible in this region today, even if it was divided among various colonial powers at the end of the 19th century. The Lunda are still fiercely autonomous and independent, however, and continue to defend a culture that has drawn on the countless ethnic heritages that it absorbed since the creation of the empire. As a result, the music played at the court of the Mwant Yaav was, and still is, regarded as one of the richest repertoires of Central Africa.

“Once the vessel is shaped and decorated, the potter cuts the outer junction between belly and bottom and beats the external surface with a wooden paddle.” (Photo: P. Petit)