African Masks Introduction Slide 1: Map of Africa

Art Appreciation, Spring 2013

African Masks Introduction

Many of the ancient cultures have survived through a tradition of storytelling, or “oral history.” People keep their cultures and religions alive by passing down myths and folk tales from one generation to the next, over thousands of years. People bring these myths and folk tales to life through masquerades – masked performances of special customs and stories that bring together dance, music, singing and art. At the center of these rituals is the African mask. The African mask is not only a work of sculpture, but because of its function, it is also considered a performance art form. Despite development of big cities and access to TV and movies, the African mask continues to be a cultural tradition among many people. Today we are going to be discussing African masks from Western Africa, mainly the Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso.

Slide 1: Map of Africa

 What do you know about Africa? (weather, animals, etc.)  When you think about Africa, what comes to mind?  Has anybody here ever been to Africa? What did you see? Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most-populous continent. Approximately 1 billion people live in Africa. There are approximately 2000 languages spoken in Africa and there are 55 countries. It is a very diverse continent in a variety of ways. Today many people in Africa live in modern houses and work in offices, while others live a more traditional way of life. In traditional cultures, many people work on small farms or produce goods for trade in the village marketplace. People in a more rural setting may live in a hut.

Art Appreciation, Spring 2013

Slide 2: Climate of Africa

 Do any of you know what the weather like in Africa?  What is a climate?  How would you describe the African climate? Here is a map showing the variety of contrasting climates in Africa. Most of Africa has a warm or hot climate, but the land is different in different regions. Africa has desert, tropical rain forests where the weather is always wet and hot, and dry grasslands (also called savannas). In these grasslands, it rains only throughout the summer, and the land is covered with tall grass and scattered trees. On the coasts of Africa, there are woodlands and mountains.

Slide 3: Watering hole with zebra, water buffaloes and antelopes

 Can you name some of the animals that you see in this photo? A variety of African wildlife are gathered around the watering hole in this photo. For people who visit Africa from other countries today, a main interest is usually to view the amazing wildlife. Visitors can go on a safari to see animals up close, in their native habitats. No other continent offers the same opportunities to see such diverse and amazing wildlife, living free, and often in close proximity! Animals are common subjects in African masks. An animal mask might actually represent the spirit of the animal, so that the mask wearer becomes a medium to speak to animals.

Art Appreciation, Spring 2013

Slide 4: African Wildlife

 What animals do you see here? The wildlife in Africa is amazing and very diverse. There are cheetahs, hippos, giraffes, warthogs, wildebeest, and zebra, baboons, monkeys, fish, frogs, birds, and insects in Africa. Animals are an essential part of any study of Africa, because they are a unique part of the continent.

Slide 5: Baule (Bah-oo-lay)masked dancers of the Goli Society, Kondeyaokro Village, Ivory Coast (Photograph by Eliot Elisofan, 1972)

 What do you notice in the picture?

 How are the people dressed?

 What do you think is going on in this village? Masks, and the rituals surrounding them, have been part of African people’s lives for thousands of years. Masks are used as part of ceremonies called masquerades, which involve the entire community. The masquerader, or person who is dancing, wears a mask and costume that cover his entire body so no one can tell who he is. The masquerader puts on his mask and costume in private before the masquerade begins. During the masquerade, the masquerader is no longer himself. Instead he is transformed into the spirit of the mask. His costume, combined with special music, helps the masquerader transform in to animals, spirits or ancestors. Through dancing to this lively music, the masquerader tells a special story without words about African life. People who watch the dance learn the story by looking and listening. This picture shows one of the ways the Baule use masks to transform themselves for entertainment.

Art Appreciation, Spring 2013

Slide 6: Kpele Kpele Mask (kah-pey-leh kah-pey-leh), Ivory Coast (Minneapolis Institute of Arts)

 What kind of creature does this remind you of?

 What do you see that makes you say that?

 How would you describe this mask to a person who can’t see it? When you see a mask in the art museum, you’re seeing it outside of its original context. African people from communities where the masks are used would only see the masks during a masquerade performance. The masks are one small part of an energetic display of costume and dance. After the masquerade is over, the villagers hide the masks. The villagers believe that the spirits associated with the masks are so powerful that if people were to see the masks at other times, when there’s no masquerade performance happening, it can lead to danger and bad things happening .The masks that are considered very powerful are secretly hidden, away from the village. Let’s take a moment to look at this mask. The plain round face of this mask is immediately recognizable to a Baule villager as kpele kpele, a character from the goli (goh-lee) masquerade. The artist of the kpele kpele mask eliminated or exaggerated certain details for expressive purposes. The shape of the face has been simplified to a flat disc. The eyes are teardrops and the mouth is a square box. A row of jagged teeth fills the mouth, and the curved shapes on top of the head suggest an animal’s horns.

Art Appreciation, Spring 2013

Slide 7: Kapan Pre dancer from Baule culture, Ivory Coast

 How would you describe the motion of the dancer?

 What music do you think you would hear if you were in the audience? This dancer is also from the Baule Culture. He is called a Kapan Pre dancer and is one of a pair of dancers for a funeral ceremony. These ceremonies sometimes last for an entire day and include many different kinds of masked dancers.

Slide 8: Man carving mask

 What is this man doing?  What do you think the mask is made out of? Most masks are made of some kind of wood, and most mask-makers are woodcarvers who come from families of woodcarvers. Usually, a mask is carved from a single piece of wood. A tree is chosen and cut down and the trunk is left to dry for some time. The trunk is then cut into chunks whose size conforms to that of the mask to be made. In addition to using wood, artists incorporate other materials they find around them in nature: grasses, metal, bone, leather, stone, shells and feathers. Because the masks are believed to be so powerful, often the carver works outside the village, usually at a place considered sacred. The professional carver never participates in the ritual wearing of masks in dances or performances. This picture shows a more contemporary, urban setting where a man is carving a mask that is probably going to be sold in the market and not used for special ceremonies.

Art Appreciation, Spring 2013

Slide 9: Senufo (Se-nu-fo) Helmet Mask, Ivory Coast

 What does this mask remind you of?  How would you describe it to someone who hasn’t seen it?  What features do you notice? This helmet mask is from the Senufo people. The Senufo occupy a large area of West Africa that spans the national boundaries of the Ivory Coast, Mali, and Burkina Faso. The Senufo people throughout this region speak a local variation of the same Senufo language. This mask can be called zoomorphic, meaning it is something that has been shaped or created in the form of an animal.

The Senufo helmet mask is a composition of several distinct animal traits in a single mask, and is considered to be the most prestigious and powerful masks worn by the Senufo men's secret society members. The helmet masks are worn at funerals of important elders.

Slide 10: Senufo Helmet Mask with Crocodile and Warthog

 Compare the helmet mask to the pictures of the crocodile and warthog? Do you see any similarities?  Why do you think the Senufo people chose these animals for their inspiration? Combining certain traits together is sometimes a way to represent exceptional virtue or high status. The mask's aggressive attributes-jaws and teeth like the crocodile's, horns like the great antelope's, and tusks like the warthog's-express the supernatural powers they embody.

Art Appreciation, Spring 2013

Slide 11: Ceremony in Gurunsi Village in Burkina Faso

 What do you see here?  What do you think is going on in this image?

Ethnic groups in Burkina Faso (the Nuna, the Nunuma and the Winiama) create masks in the form of animals colored in black, red and white. These masks can only be differentiated by their horns and their ears. These groups sculpt masks representing buffalo, snakes, antelope, warthogs, hyenas, hornbills and crocodiles. The serpent masks sometimes extend to heights of unbelievable proportion.

In the picture we see an example of one buffalo mask and two serpent masks.

Look closely at the eyes. The eyes are bulging and framed by concentric circles (concentric means to have a common center). These masks are decorated with geometric forms and are repainted every year.

The wearer of the mask disappears underneath his fiber skirt and moves about in the manner of the animal whose mask he was wearing.

The masks belong to an individual, and are given to his son at his death or stored in the ancestor’s hut.

The masks play an important part in the ceremonies that mark the end of an initiation, funerals of important people or entertainment that is organized on market days.

Art Appreciation, Spring 2013

Slide 12: Mask performance in Winiama Village of Ouri, Burkina Faso

 Can you think of a time when you wore a costume to transform yourself? (Halloween?)  Who did you become?  How did you act once you put on your costume?

The people of Burkina Faso see masks as mediators between the living world and the supernatural world of the dead, ancestors and other entities. Masks are supposed to come from another world.

In Burkina Faso masks represent protective spirits that can take animal forms or can appear as strange beings. These spirits watch over a family, clan or community, and, if the rules of their beliefs are followed correctly, they believe they will be blessed with children, health, and prosperity.

The mask seen in this image is a buffalo mask. The face mask is worn attached to fiber costumes covering the head. The masquerader bites firmly to a fiber rope passing through holes in the mask, so securing the mask to his face.