The World of Songye

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. It explores 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The World of Songye displays a large number of unpublished and specially commissioned photographs of Songye works of art from private and public collections, and of historic field photographs.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, The World of Songye analyzes Songye aesthetics and symbols, the Songye representation of animals and weapons, and the history of collecting Songye artefacts 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.