Tribal Art

Bira mask (N° 20374)

The polychrome patterns, originally applied with the finger by the ritualist named ishumi , remain almost imperceptible on the surface of our bira mask.
Indeed, although masks decorated with dotted lines often originated in northern D.R.C., clans in the Utuiri region also made use of similar masks featuring the traditional designs applied to bodies and faces during ritual ceremonies.
Height on base: 44cm.
The Bira or Hunde and the Komo of Congo belong to the same ethnic entity and their last migration dates back to the 18th century. Their region of origin would be the Ubangi, even Chad, and even according to some, the Nile basin (Siffer).they speak an archaic Bantu language. They speak an archaic Bantu language. Settled in Ituri, there are the Bira who have acclimatized to the forest, neighbors of the Pymées, and those of the savannah, cattle breeders.