Ekuk Face Mask

This mask is misconceived by some gallarists and marchers as "antelope mask duiker". This mask is equipped with long horns while those of the small antelope duiker raremenete exceed eleven centimeters in the male.

Related to the Kota They live in the north of the People's Republic of Congo and in the west of Gabon. They have a wide variety of masks. Masks are flat, often heart-shaped, like many of the masks of this African region, dominate the white color, which can alternate with other darker polychromes, without colors or flashy tones. The eyes, in the form of coffee bean thirst, carry an inner incision.

The Kwele They also practice bwete worship during which they wear their masks in order to gain prosperity for the village. The "Ekuk" masks represent the spirits of the jungle's antelopes. Usually after the rites of the Bwiti they celebrate a meal eating one of the antelopes supposedly represented in the mask. Antelope hunted by a hunter wearing this mask. The rest of the time the masks remain hanging in the houses.

This mask in the form of antelope is a mask of hunter or used in agrarian rites.

Mask with traces of use and to see its antiquity it is enough to see the carving and the patina of the back.