L'Univers songye

The fruit of collaboration between seventeen specialists with varied experience and skills, this multifocal study offers a new approach to the masterpieces of the Songye, the Bantu ethnic group from the centre of the Democratic Republic of Congo, by studying the styles of the different regions, identifying the master Songye artists and the specificity of the Kifwebe masks.

The book presents a large number of previously unpublished and specially commissioned photographs of Songye works of art from private and public collections, as well as historical field photographs. It analyses Songye aesthetics and symbols, the representation of animals and weapons, and the history of artefact collection in the field. It also explores the religious and magical functions and powers of Songye objects and their influence on modern art, focusing in particular on Jean-Michel Basquiat.