Ethnic Masks
The communication between tribes of South America is limited so their distinctive artistic style is retained.
The masks are painted with a variety of bold geometric designs in black and shades of brown; lozenges and triangles are particularly favoured and facial features are sometimes painted.
They play ceremonial functions by:
- expressing grief by kinsmen of the departed,
- relieving grief by the consoling presence of ancestors and other beings, including forest monsters, fish, insects, animals and birds,
- driving the ghost of the deceased from the house.
Baule masks represent domesticated animals and species of game (for example, a buffalo) that play an important role in the daily life of the tribe. They were used in entertaining masquerade dances. The performance is accompanied by unmasked, costumed young men, who put on a dramatic show of hunting and killing a buffalo which sometimes verges on caricature.
Winiama masks are strikingly decorated with geometric patterns and frequently characterized by a diamond-shaped mouth with deeply ridged lips and bared teeth.
The motif of a couple, whether of the same gender or male and female, refers to the spirits of nature embodied in every mask, which ensure the welfare and fertility of the population in general, and of the mask owner and his family n particular.
Mask dancers perform on numerous ritual occasions, as well as, appear at the annual ceremonies to commemorate the dead and honor their spirits.
Ekoi masks are distinguished by the covering of antelope skin that is frequently used. Realism is enhanced by the addition of painted designs resembling tattoos and by the insertion of metal or wooden teeth, or occasionally by the addition of hair.
Some examples represent young girls, their hair dressed in an extraordinary local ceremonial style of long spiral horns.
It is believed that originally these headdresses represented heads of enemies killed in local wars, and it has often been said by historians that early examples were covered in human skin.
The bands of triangular decoration in reddish brown, black and white are typical of the Bena-Biomba and neighbouring Pende.
There are two types of masks:
- minganji - more powerful, representing ancestors, manufactured in sacred process and only seen by villagers from a distance.
- mbuya - representing various village characters, such as chief, executioner, fool, flirt and prostitute.
Zebra masks are used as hunting trophies by many African tribes.
Kikuyu tribe marks the beginning of the rainy season with a celebration which lasts for several days and includes singing, dancing, eating, and praying for the health of their animals. Their ceremonial dances are often performed by warriors wearing leopard or zebra skin robes and carrying spears and shields. The dancers dye their bodies blue, and paint them in white patterns.
From the Buddhist masks of Tibet to the royal masks of Beijing, Asia’s love of masks is abundant.
Historically Chinese masks were taken as a way to communicate with the many gods that the Chinese believed in and served as a means of carrying good wishes. Putting them up in their homes would attract good fortune. The Chinese would pray to them and believe that they had the power to help them overcome disasters. Other masks were taken as a means of warding off evil spirits and ghosts.
Today Chinese masks are most popularly featured in the Chinese New Year celebrations. The general feeling generated by the Chinese masks during this festive season is that of happiness and joy.
This Tibetan mask was worn in mystery plays performed in Buddist monasteries.
This mask would have been used in Khon plays, which feature characters taken from the great Indian epics such as the Ramayana.
Masked characters, usually divinities, are a central feature of Indian dramatic forms, many based on depicting the epics Mahabharata and Ramayana.
The masks are usually highly exaggerated and formalised, and share an aesthetic with the carved images of monstrous heads that dominate the facades of Hindu and Buddhist temples. These 'Visages of Glory', are intended to ward off evil and are associated with the animal world as well as the divine.
Many Sri Lankan characters have counterparts in the Indian folk masking tradition, from which they must have derived. These include Gurula, the local equivalent of Garuda, the mythical bird on which the Hindu god Vishnu rode.
Painted bands, spots, and scrolls in red, white and black cover the entire surface of Indonesian masks. The scroll is associated with the aso - a mythical dog or dragon.
Inexpensive materials are often used to make masks in rural areas.
The expression is both comic and sinister.
The masks represent grotesque devils and are thought to frighten away the evil spirits of winter.
'Parades of devils' are traditionally held in rural regions of Hungary. They involve parades of hideously masked characters blowing on horns.
This painted mask was probably made for a child.
Masks play a key part within world theatre traditions, which can be traced back to the Greeks and Romans.
In some Greek masks the wide and open mouth of the mask contained a brass megaphone enabling the voice of the wearer to be projected into the large auditoria.
In Alpine regions festivals are held in midwinter to celebrate the victory of 'young' spring over 'old' winter.
Mask makers sometimes designed caricatures based on real people.
The tribes of North America speak different languages but share a common culture. Masks from different regions share distinctive characteristics, such as asymmetrical painted designs representing the stylized features of spirits.
This mask has a headband inset with feathers and hair, others might have been decorated with inset seal whiskers or plaited cedar bark.
Alaskan masks are usually small and often highly elaborate with various limbs and other items about the border.
They represent the spirits of the animals hunted for food to ensure continued success in the hunt.
Eskimo dancing masks were usually made by shamans who provide the community's link with the spirit world.
Alaska &
The Arctic
Inuit
wood, cane
Tribal masks
Ethnic Masks
Hungary
Switzerland
North-West
America
painted wood
Alpine regions
painted wood, cloth, various materials
Tlingit tribe
Romania
Northern Transylvania
wool, cloth, beans
wood, fibre, feathers
Alpine regions
Greece
China
Myrina (now in Turkey)
terracota
by Katarzyna Matuszewska
India
Nigeria
Burkina Faso
by Katarzyna Matuszewska
Ekoi tribe
wood, skin, rattan
Winiama
wood, painted in white, black and red
Sri Lanka
Thailand
wood
£1,000
Baule tribe
wood with remnants of white kaolin pigment
Kenya
Ivory Coast
wood
Indonesia
wood
Zaire/Congo
Bena-Biombo
wood, raffa
Brazil
Upper Xingu River
wood, fibre, feathers