Songye kifwebe masks at TEFAF Maastricht 2020

For TEFAF 2020 I’m presenting 9 masks of the Songye Kifwebe type, which is the first time we have such a large number ever shown together.

They all belong to private collections in Belgium and I try to show the evolution of style through 150 years of carving these amazing masks. Songye mask are very special because they do connect to the birth of modern art. Of course, Picasso and Braque, in 1906/1908, when they were « inventing » cubism, they’ve not seen any of these mask. They all came out just after : first mask 1905-1907, but they were not in any books or publications.

As a group of objets they are spectacular in terms of their mix of colours, design and form, which make these a remarkable group to present here at TEFAF.