After the ceremony, the boys return to a special hut away from the village where they each unmask the masked figure and take vows of secrecy. For up to possibly one year, they heal and learn more secrets, like singing while bathing to warn others of their presence, that will make them full participants in their society When time arrives for the boys to leave their confinement, the boys burn their costumes and wash at the river, and are joined by the masked figure who again leads them back to the village where they perform the dances they have learned, and proclaim their adult names.
The boys are welcomed with gifts and accepted as full members of the Batchokwe African masks themselves are some of the most fascinating works in all of human history. They represent a humanistic searching for the world of spirits, yet each tribe shares unique distinctive qualities. The majority of African masks are wood, and mask usage is clearly tied to areas where wood is available. The African believed the tree possessed a living spirit and he needed a diviner to conduct purification ceremonies and sacrifices to appease the spirit of the tree and ask it to transfer itself into the mask which would also increase the power of the mask.
There are symbolic meanings to the type of wood used and to specific trees. Surface treatments vary with different groups also, with many cultures using oils, plant sap, or mud to give the mask a shiny patina that helps it to stand out in the sun and distinguish it as a spirit face.
Holes for raffia attachments are made with a heated awl, and are often done by a different craftsman. The carving of the masks are mostly done with a large long-handled axe known as an adze. The African carver is able to acquire amazing accuracy with this large instrument, and even though he has double-edged knives and chisels for fine detailing, the majority of the work is handled with the adze Tribal To some extent, the use of better technology is not welcome for something that has ritual purpose.
Various cultures specialize in different materials for their masks - Basketwork in the Congo, Bronze masks of the Senufo, or metal surfacing among the Marka. In the last decades of the 20th century, more imported materials have been used in African masks, and we often see some tribes incorporate very contemporary materials like acrylic paints and plastic necklaces Ottenberg The masks in Africa are usually tied to the face with bands or held there by a scarf or a wig made of raffia.
Some have a horizontal peg inside for the dancer to hold between their teeth. Costumes can be made with palm leafs or various local fabrics or leather. Some have used bark cloth, but not to the degree that Oceanic masks have. The carver of African masks usually holds an esteemed position in his community. He learned his craft after years of apprenticeship to a woodcarver or in many cases a blacksmith , or may have been the member of a woodcarving family.
Some cultures have a caste system specifically for mask makers. Most African masks are face coverings, but they also include a wide variety of helmet masks and headdresses. The stylistic features of African masks reveal an astonishing variety. They may be naturalistic and clearly outline Negroid features; they may be expressionistically shaped into idealized features; or they may be wildly abstracted into frightening expressions of animal or human expressions.
Segy also writes of the tendency toward expressionistic style: "The African mask is an enlarged face, dramatized to the utmost in stylized, abstract images to achieve spiritual intensity" Speaks Style Regions Africa is often considered to be the continent with the longest tradition of mask making and the most vibrant in its diversity of styles. There are more than a thousand different tribes throughout the continent, but only a few hundred tribes use masks.
They have a great tradition of statues as well as masks, and their works have been long sought after by Western artists and collectors. The Dogon live in Mali on the Bandiagara escarpment east of the Niger River, in villages of thatched roofs and mud brick buildings that seem about to slide off the walls of stone.
Just as dangerously, they survive on a small amount of millet supplied from their low-grade soil and small rainfall Teuten It seems almost natural that sympathetic magic would be an essential part of their survival system.
However, among the Dogon, who have had strong ties with France, its former colonial authority, the Islamic influence has changed but not ended the practice.
This has caused Dogon masks to retain a bold simplicity in its use of geometrical patterns. Dogon Kanaga masks reflect these influences while also showing the reaching toward divinity, for they consist of a superstructure with two horizontal bars that represent the sky and the earth. During the Dama funeral ceremonies held every 12 years, the Kanaga dancers "rotate their upper bodies from the hips and swing the masks in wide circles.
Other masks are used by the Awa society for funerals and rituals to commemorate the soul of an important member of the tribe several years after his death. One very distinctive ritual is the Sigi ceremony and its fifteen feet high Imina Na snake masks, held every sixty years to honor the original ancestor, Lebe Teuten The myth tells how the tribe prayed to Amma, the high god, to have the dead Lebe freed from his aging body, and after they had buried him a few years, the Dogon exhumed his corpse to find that he had become a snake, which always followed the tribe Cotterell The Bambara tribe, which consists of more than one million members, lives near the Dogon, and also has a great tradition of semi-abstract masks with large superstructures.
The Komo and the Kule societies produce all their masks and travel among the Bambara, making masks that form the distinct style of each tribe Bleakley 9. Their Chi Wara masks are headdresses of antelopes used for ritual dances by male and female couples to promote fertility and agriculture.
Their myths tell of this water spirit, who "magically transformed weeds into millet and corn and taught people to do the same. He also taught them the value of hard work. The handle becomes a nose and the gaping snout and sculpted panels suggest facial features. Adornment can be found anywhere from industrial waste to found natural items like porcupine quills. His work is reflective of an enduring African cultural art form that can be seen in the works of Joseph-Francis Sumegne and Dilomprizulike of Nigeria among many other artists who work with found objects.
For me they exhibit the same qualities as African masks do, slightly sinister and enigmatic but with strong bearing and form. Nick Cave is not African but his work is so infectious and inspirational that he has to be included in this contemporary African art section just for the joy and pleasure of being exposed to his amazing installations. He has undoubtedly been influenced by tribal masquerades and his 'sound suit' installations and accompanying videos are very reminiscent of all that those ceremonies conjure up for all participants be they viewer, listener or performer.
He uses all manner of found objects to create his suits; sequins and fur, bottle caps, sticks; metal and wooden, fabric, hair, ordinary materials that he transmutes into multi-layered, mixed media sculptures.
You can do so right here and now by building a web page of your own within this web site. Click here and you'll be 'live' in minutes. Do you want to publish your gallery and exhibit your work globally? I am a young developing artist who developed a new technique of manipulating calabash a few months back transforming it to modern and local artifacts. African sculpture takes many forms and offers us huge insights into the cultures and tribal communities from whence it came. All rights reserved.
Senufo bird head crest. Kuba masquerade, , Kasai, Congo. Kuba face mask, Congo. Yoruba carved crest mask. African masks are worn in three ways: Vertically covering the face As helmets, encasing the entire head As a crest, resting upon the head which is commonly covered by material or fibre to continue the disguise A mask used for spiritual purposes can often only be worn once and then thrown away or burned, once its function has been performed. Materials used: African masks are primarily carved from wood but can also be made of terracotta, glazed pottery, bronze, brass, copper, ivory or leather.
Bobo plank mask, Beckwith and Fisher. Helmet mask. Photos of African masks from October Gallery, London. Joseph-Francis Sumegne b , Cameroon. From 'Les 9 Notables' mixed media Africa Remix, Nick Cave. Sound suits video 1. Comments Have your say about what you just read! Leave me a comment in the box below. Artists are inspired to create masks that will appear mysterious, awesome, and frightening, as exemplified by an all-seeing janus-form headdress and the komo maks that features an array of animal horns with sharp tips that are used by Bembe and Senufo men's socieities, who membership is closed to females and uninitiated males.
The masks used to disguise the face are often only an element of an ensemble, including a costume, worn in masquerades. Dancers may wear a carved wood or fiber mask, worn on top of, over, or on their faces, and a costume made of natural or man-made materials.
They perform intricate steps or acrobatics accompanied by singers and musicians playing various types of drums, bells, and other instruments. Some masks play the stern role of policeman and enforce law and order while others use humor and satire to discourage unacceptable behavior and social values.
Masquerades generally occur in public in broad daylight, but sometimes they are secret events held at night with only initiated males as witnesses. Masquerades often include not one but several masked dancers embodying various spirits. For example, annual Egungun masquerades bring the ancestors back to town dressed in sumptuous cloths. Families own the masquerades, so as many as possible who can afford the cost of the elaborate costumes and other requirements for participating are represented in the week-long festival.
The Dogon dama has at least seventy masks that comprise a visually summary of the Dogon world from the creation to the present. In contrast to these large masquerades, the Chokwe and Kuba require only two or three masks to represent their ancestral spirits. Many masquerades no longer exist. The impact of colonialism, imposition of a Western educational system, conversion to Christianity or Islam, and other changes have resulted in the demise of traditional religious, political, and social practices.
Yet, many masquerades have survived because they adapted to the changing times. While some beliefs may no longer be viable, social values remain important. The new role of the masquerade is to reinforce those values.
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