Masquerading enjoyed an extraordinary resurgence in the Central Pende region in the early twentieth century, in part because so many other routes to male prestige had been blocked. In the 1930s, during the Pende rebellion, masquerade performance constituted a form of resistance to Belgian colonial rule. Pende masquerade performance remains vital to this day. Masks with black-and-white faces are called masques de maladie, or sickness masks. These masks represent people whose faces are permanently disfigured by illness in order to promote compassion for these individuals.