Thinking of the mystique of the language of mask using an African example

The art of the first people of Africa believe that God or the creator of the world was the first Designer. Through masks depicting the fundamental nature of its creator, the African artist demonstrates the gift of the artist as a Co-Designer with God on one hand and on the other hand everyday life or the preparation of domestic habits on a day by day basis, through garments worn as a part of cultural or cult ceremonies.

We will talk about communication versus the knowledge of a people whose first recognized natural man was “yaka” as is the case in point for the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Jean Malurie and Russian anthropologists remind us that “The first peoples (here or elsewhere) are the lifeblood of humanity which is built. (Jean Malurie, 1999).

SPEAKER: Willy-Léonard Nunga Khal-Tambwe

Willy-Léonard Nunga comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central Africa. He holds a BA and MA in Theology from the Congo and also has undertaken studies specializing in Practical and Systematic Theology at the University of Neuchatel in Switzerland. Returning to the Congo, he taught Theology and took on the responsibilities of Director General for a Theological Seminary for four years. After this he did a year’s research project in the Faulty of Theology at the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena in Germany, he returned to Quebec in 1997 to complete his doctorate in Contemporary Religious Studies at the University of Sherbrooke.