MC1123 Superb Mask idimu Mask Congo DRC Cult of Bwami

- Lega. Ethics and Beauty in the heart of Africa. Daniel P. Biebuyck. 2002. KBC.
- Lega jewels from the Benoît Rousseau collection. Viviane Baeke, RMCA and Benoît Rousseau. 2013. BRUNEAF.

- In search of the meaning of Bwami, through a collection unlike any other. Viviane Baeke. Undated. Royal Museum for Central Africa.

- The sculpture of the Lega. Daniel P. Biebuyck. 1994. Galerie Hélène and Philippe Leloup-Paris-New-York.

- The arts of Zaire, Vol II Eastern Zaire. Daniel P. Biebuyck, 1986, University of California Press.

- The Art of the Central African Lega, Elizabeth L. Cameron. 2013, Quai Branly Museum.

- Lega Culture. Art, Initiation and Moral Philosophy Among a Central African People. Daniel P. Biebuyck. 1973. University of California Press.
- The Lega and their art. In the footsteps of a dreamer lost in Congoland Emile-Alexandre Georges. 2005. Royal Museum for Central Africa.

- The Lega Art - Greatness and Humility. In the Vallois collection, Valentine Plisnier and Michel Boulanger, 2016.

Beautiful mask with a thin nose, non-pierced eyes and mouth, the contours of the face are hemmed

A very similar mask is published in Ethics and Beauty, page 86 and in Uzuri wa Dunia, pages 102-103

Idimu masks are significantly larger than Lukwakongo masks, but stylistically very close
These are collective masks used during ceremonies for high-ranking people of the Bwami, an association that organized the social structure and ensured the stability of the Lega community.
This type of mask was used as part of the cult of the Bwami, an association that organized the social structure
and ensured the stability of the Lega community.

The Lega are a Bantu forest people of Central Africa, established in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in the provinces of South Kivu and Maniema