Photographer: Steppé, E.
Title: untitled (Portrait d'un danseur Mukishi).
Date: 1935.
Country: Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Medium: unmounted gelatin silver print.
Size: 24,1 x 18,0 cm.
Condition: very good.
Reference: ESIV1122/1.
Provenance: Collection family Carlo Lamote.
Extra: typed note with identification in French on verso. Congopresse 31.425/1.
Portrait of the Mukishi dancer. The Mukishi plays an important role in the circumcision rituals. He is the one who chases away the women to prevent them from attending the ceremonies. The women and the uncircumcised see him as a dead man risen from his grave. Only after the circumcision are the young men, who have undergone it, invited to master their fear and remove his mask to reveal his identity.
The skirt he wears around his waist resembles the kamba, a long belt about 3 meters in length, adorned with a 30-centimeter fringe made of fibers, which is given to circumcised boys once their wounds have healed.
Location: Sandoa.
Province: Lualaba (<2015 former Katanga province).