The Language of the Plank
Every line declares belonging
Each clan carves its own geometric vocabulary — zigzag, checkerboard, X-cross — to mark territory in painted wood.
Black, white, red: the three truths
Charcoal for the ancestors, kaolin for the spirit world, earth-red for the living. No panel is decorative without meaning.
Three metres of standing prayer
The karan-wemba rises above the dancer's head, transforming a body into a monument. The mask does not hide — it elevates.
Carved to outlive the carver
A plank mask serves the village for generations. The wood ages, the paint fades, the geometry endures.