The Yombe people live on the Lower Zaire River, the region very important in the artistic history of Black Africa. The Yombe are artistically prolific people. They create masks and fetish sculptures. This particular mask combines both. Such masks played an integral role in the real-life drama of prosecuting antisocial acts in Yombe communities. In this context, these masks inspired confidence in the divination specialist’s (diphomba’s) ability to dispense justice and install fear in the minds of people with guilty consciences.

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