The ultimate and authoritative introduction to Songye culture,
sculpture, masks, and iron forging
This lavishly illustrated book brings a new approach to the masterpieces
of Songye, a Bantu ethnic group from the central Democratic Republic of
the Congo, exploring the styles of the different regions, the
identification of Songye master artists, and the specificity of Kifwebe
masks.
The World of Songye displays a large number of unpublished and
specially commissioned photographs of Songye works of art from private
and public collections, and of historic field photographs. Edited by the
unchallenged specialists of the subject with contributions from ten
distinguished writers, World of Songye analyzes Songye aesthetics and
symbols, the Songye representation of animals and weapons and the
history of collecting Songye artifacts on the field. It also explores
the religious and magical functions and powers of Songye objects and
their influence on modern art, focusing in particular on Jean-Michel
Basquiat.
Distributed for Mercatorfonds
