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Multi-Faced Dance Figure (kebe-kebe)
Wood, pigment, brass

Kuyu, Congo and Zaire

Fred and Rita Richman Collection, 1984.327

The Kuyu of the Congo and western Zaire
produce elaborately carved and painted wooden
dance batons. The precise use of these dance
staffs is uncertain. It has been suggested that
they are used in initiation ceremonies which
enact the Kuyu myth of origin.