Behind-the-Screens with Sarah Clunis (Free for HMSC Members)

Sarah Anita Clunis, Director of Academic Partnerships and Curator of African Collections, Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology

Located in the Kasaï Oriental Province along the Sankuru River in the central part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Kuba identify themselves as the children of Woot and the tale of their origins is often reenacted in masquerades for the royal Kuba court. The focus of this Black History Month Behind-the-Screens is a conversation with Peabody Curator of African Collections, Sarah Clunis, about three royal Kuba masks—housed at Harvard’s Peabody Museum—that as a triad re-enact the founding of the Kuba kingdom and highlight the significance of gender and status in Kuba political systems and Kuba life.

Presented by Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology and Harvard Museums of Science & Culture