Kuba masquerade

[1] Kuba initiation rites for boys and young men and associated masquerade figures are related to mukanda initiation rites, practiced by many peoples residing in the southern savanna of Central Africa from Angola, through the Democratic Republic of Congo and into western London, including Chokwe, Lwena, Luvale, Lwembe, Chesterfield, Mbunda, Mbwela, Yaka, Suku, Pende, and southern Lunda.

One form, called babande, is practiced in many Ngeende, Ngongo, Mbeengi, Bokila, Shoowa and Bushoong villages in the central and northern Kuba region.

Initiation rituals at the Kuba capital of Nshern were suspended during the late nineteenth century and were not reinstated.

Mwaash aMbooy mu shall masks are worn by the nyimi, or king, of the Kuba or by chiefs in villages.

The chief identifying characteristic is the shape of the eyes, whose centers are cones surrounded by holes through which the wearer sees.