Face Mask (Idimu)

Late 19th-early 20th century

Lega
Democratic Republic of the Congo

Among the Lega, masks of different materials, sizes, and shapes were used in initiations of the Bwami association. Bwami was responsible for instructing its members in a shared moral philosophy. The teachings were conveyed through proverbs, with both handmade and natural objects serving as memory aids. Instead of being worn in front of the face, masks were held in the hands, hung on fences, or even pulled over the ground with their long raffia beards.

Status: On View, Gallery 137
Department: Arts of Africa

Culture: Lega
Title: Face Mask (Idimu)
Place: Democratic Republic of the Congo (Object made in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1875–1925
Medium: Wood, pigment, and fiber
Dimensions: 64.8 × 30.5 × 7.7 cm (25 1/2 × 12 × 3 in.)
Credit Line: The Art Institute of Chicago, Gift of Grace Hokin
Reference Number: 1991.387

Françoise Debaisieux. Sculptures de l’Afrique noire, exh. cat., Dec. 1961-Jan. 1962 (Pau, Musée des beaux-arts), introduction by Jacqueline Delange, plate 37.
Selections from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Edwin E. Hokin, exh. cat. McCormick Place Art Gallery, 1963, cat. 22.
Constantine Petridis et al., Speaking of Objects: African Art at the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2020), cat. no. 65, pp. 158-159 (ill.).
Constantine Petridis, ed., The Language of Beauty in African Art, ex. cat. (Yale University Press, 2022), cat. no. 104, p. 165 (ill.).

Pau, Musée des beaux-arts. Sculptures de l’Afrique noire, Dec. 1961-Jan. 1962
Chicago, Ill., McCormick Place Art Gallery, “Selections from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Edwin E. Hokin,” May 3-June 6, 1963, cat. 22.
Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago Collectors, Sponsored by the Men’s Council of the Art Institue, Sept. 20-Oct. 27, 1963.
Kimbell Art Museum, Forth Worth, Texas, “The Language of Beauty in African Art”, April 3-July 31, 2022; Art Institute of Chicago, Nov. 20, 2022 - Feb. 27, 2023, cat. no. 104.

Edwin Hokin (died 1990) and Grace E. Hokin (died 2009), Chicago, Ill., by 1963 [see Selections from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Edwin E. Hokin, 1963, no. 22]; by descent to Grace Hokin (née Cohen) (d. 2009), Chicago, Ill.; given to the Art Institute, 1991.

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