Songye
Encyclopedia
The Songye people are an ethnic group of the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire
), living in the Kasai-Oriental
province along both sides of the Lualaba River
. In 1985 it was estimated that the Songye numbered between 150,000 and 217,000. The Songye are divided into sub-groupings that are under the governorship of a central chief known as the Yakitenge. More local governance is in the hands of chiefs known as Sultani Ya Muti. Their economy is based on agriculture and pastoralism.
, are well-known wood carvers who are renowned for making ceremonial masks, power figures, and other ceremonial items.
. 33 (4) no. 132, 1993, pages 587-612. Paris Hildegard Klein (Ed), Leo Frobenius (1873–1938), Bassonge (Songye), Ethnographische Notizen aus den Jahren 1905 und 1906, vol. 4 [is titled:] Kenyok, Luba, Songye, Tetela, Songo, Meno/Nkutu, Stuttgart : Franz Steiner Verlag Wiesbaden, 1990, p. 87-161 Marta Heloísa Leuba Salum, Consideraçoes sobre as madeiras que os Basonge escolheram para esculpir algumas de suas estátuas, Dédalo, 28, 1990, p. 207-226, São Paulo Marta Heloísa (Lisy) Leuba Salum, A grande estatuária songe do Zaire, [São Paulo] : Universidade de São Paulo, fivereiro de 1990, 2 v., x, 326 p., ill., maps, 28 cm. Thesis (M.A.) Universidade de São Paulo, 1990. Muepu Mibanga, Songye : livre des proverbes, Éditions Bouwa, 1988, 277 p. Muepu Mibanga, Jean Sohier et Johan M. Pauwels, Songye : le recueil de jurisprudence de l'Etat indépendant du Congo jusqu'à 1967, Renapi, 1987, 128 p. Dunja Hersak, Songye masks and figure sculpture, Ethnographica, Londres, 1985, 189 p. ISBN 0-905788-50-8 Jean Willy Mestach, Études songye : formes et symbolique : essai d'analyse/Songye Studien : Formen und Symbolik : ein analytischer Essay/Songye studies : form and symbolism : an analytical essay, Galerie Jahn, 1985, 183 p. Viktor Kabamba Nkamany A Baleme, Art et culture songye : Initiation aux aspects de la culture Songye, Nkamanyland, 1983, 112 p. Alan P. Merriam (1923–1980), Kifwebe and other masked and unmasked societies among the Basongye, Africa-Tervuren, 24 (3) 1978, p. 57-73 [et] 24 (4) 1978, p. 89-101, Tervuren Roger Dechamps (+1995), L'identification anatomique des bois utilisés pour des sculptures en Afrique. V, La sculpture Songye, Africa-Tervuren, 21 (1-2) 1975, p. 27-33, Tervuren. Alan P. Merriam (1923–1980), Change in religion and the arts in a Zairian village, African arts, 7 (4), summer 1974, p. 46-53, 95, Los Angeles Alan P. Merriam (1923–1980), An African world: the Basongye village of Lupupa Ngye, Bloomington : Indiana University Press, [1974], xxiii, 347 p. ill. 24 cm. Alan P. Merriam (1923–1980), The Bala musician, In: Warren d'Azevedo, ed. Traditional artist in African society, Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 1973, p. 250-281
Zaire
The Republic of Zaire was the name of the present Democratic Republic of the Congo between 27 October 1971 and 17 May 1997. The name of Zaire derives from the , itself an adaptation of the Kongo word nzere or nzadi, or "the river that swallows all rivers".-Self-proclaimed Father of the Nation:In...
), living in the Kasai-Oriental
Kasai-Oriental
Kasai-Oriental is one of the ten provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It borders the provinces of Kasai-Occidental to the west, Équateur to the northwest, Orientale to the northeast, Maniema to the east, and Katanga to the south. Kasai-Oriental is one of the richest diamond producing...
province along both sides of the Lualaba River
Lualaba River
The Lualaba River is the greatest headstream of the Congo River by volume of water. However, by length the Chambeshi River is the farthest headstream. The Lualaba is 1800 km long, running from near Musofi in the vicinity of Lubumbashi in Katanga Province. The whole of its length lies within the...
. In 1985 it was estimated that the Songye numbered between 150,000 and 217,000. The Songye are divided into sub-groupings that are under the governorship of a central chief known as the Yakitenge. More local governance is in the hands of chiefs known as Sultani Ya Muti. Their economy is based on agriculture and pastoralism.
Types of visual art
The Songye people, like Luba peopleLuba people
The Luba are one of the Bantu peoples of Central Africa. They are indigenous to the Katanga, Kasai, and Maniema regions which were historic provinces of present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo...
, are well-known wood carvers who are renowned for making ceremonial masks, power figures, and other ceremonial items.
External links
- Songye Information from the University of Iowa
Further reading
Bacquart, J. 1998/2000. The Tribal Arts of Africa. Thames and Hudson. Merriam, Alan P. 1974. An African World: The Basongye Village of Lupupa Ngye. Indiana University Press. Phillips, T. (ed.). 1996. Africa: Art of a Continent. Prestel. Alain-Michel Boyer, « Les Songyés » in Les Arts d'Afrique, Hazan, Paris, 2008, p. 364-365 ISBN 978-2-7541-0075-X François Neyt, Songye : la redoutable statuaire songye d'Afrique centrale, Fonds Mercator ; 5 continents, 2004, 398 p. ISBN 9788874391318 Hughes Dubois, Viviane Baeke et Anne-Marie Bouttiaux, Le sensible et la force : photographies de Hughes Dubois et sculptures songye, Musée royal de l'Afrique centrale, Tervuren (Belgique), 2004, 88 p. ISBN 9789075894608 Jean-Marie Lusuna Kazadi, Les Songye de la RDC : hommage à un héros : Ya'Gérard Lusuna, Éditions Aux Petits génies, 2003, 75p. Allen Wardwell, Three African traditions : the art of the Dogon, Fang and Songye, Bruce Museum of arts and science, Greenwich (Conn.), 1999, 47 p. ISBN 0-9665144-2-4 Thomas Turner, Batetela, Baluba, Basonge : ethnogenesis in Zaire, Cahiers d'études africainesCahiers d'Études africaines
The Cahiers d'Études africaines is an international and interdisciplinary academic journal covering topics in the social sciences as relating to Africa, the West Indies, and Black Africa. The journal publishes miscellaneous issues and essays covering recent trends in research and field theory and...
. 33 (4) no. 132, 1993, pages 587-612. Paris Hildegard Klein (Ed), Leo Frobenius (1873–1938), Bassonge (Songye), Ethnographische Notizen aus den Jahren 1905 und 1906, vol. 4 [is titled:] Kenyok, Luba, Songye, Tetela, Songo, Meno/Nkutu, Stuttgart : Franz Steiner Verlag Wiesbaden, 1990, p. 87-161 Marta Heloísa Leuba Salum, Consideraçoes sobre as madeiras que os Basonge escolheram para esculpir algumas de suas estátuas, Dédalo, 28, 1990, p. 207-226, São Paulo Marta Heloísa (Lisy) Leuba Salum, A grande estatuária songe do Zaire, [São Paulo] : Universidade de São Paulo, fivereiro de 1990, 2 v., x, 326 p., ill., maps, 28 cm. Thesis (M.A.) Universidade de São Paulo, 1990. Muepu Mibanga, Songye : livre des proverbes, Éditions Bouwa, 1988, 277 p. Muepu Mibanga, Jean Sohier et Johan M. Pauwels, Songye : le recueil de jurisprudence de l'Etat indépendant du Congo jusqu'à 1967, Renapi, 1987, 128 p. Dunja Hersak, Songye masks and figure sculpture, Ethnographica, Londres, 1985, 189 p. ISBN 0-905788-50-8 Jean Willy Mestach, Études songye : formes et symbolique : essai d'analyse/Songye Studien : Formen und Symbolik : ein analytischer Essay/Songye studies : form and symbolism : an analytical essay, Galerie Jahn, 1985, 183 p. Viktor Kabamba Nkamany A Baleme, Art et culture songye : Initiation aux aspects de la culture Songye, Nkamanyland, 1983, 112 p. Alan P. Merriam (1923–1980), Kifwebe and other masked and unmasked societies among the Basongye, Africa-Tervuren, 24 (3) 1978, p. 57-73 [et] 24 (4) 1978, p. 89-101, Tervuren Roger Dechamps (+1995), L'identification anatomique des bois utilisés pour des sculptures en Afrique. V, La sculpture Songye, Africa-Tervuren, 21 (1-2) 1975, p. 27-33, Tervuren. Alan P. Merriam (1923–1980), Change in religion and the arts in a Zairian village, African arts, 7 (4), summer 1974, p. 46-53, 95, Los Angeles Alan P. Merriam (1923–1980), An African world: the Basongye village of Lupupa Ngye, Bloomington : Indiana University Press, [1974], xxiii, 347 p. ill. 24 cm. Alan P. Merriam (1923–1980), The Bala musician, In: Warren d'Azevedo, ed. Traditional artist in African society, Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 1973, p. 250-281