One of the most enduring and fascinating aspects of African culture is masks. Masks are a prominent feature of African cultural heritage. They reveal stories, beliefs, and rituals that have shaped communities for millennia.
In Western museums and private collections, they are treated as artistic objects appreciated for their aesthetic qualities. African masks are not simply beautiful artistic objects to be admired. Traditional African masks don’t belong locked away in museums. They belong in homes that appreciate history, meaning, and beauty.
Africans have been making masks since prehistory. African masks are one of the oldest known forms of art. The earliest evidence of them is in the form of rock art from 11,000 years ago but they may be even older than that. The oldest surviving African masks come from the Egyptian archaeological site of Hierakonpolis.
Though the precise origins of masking traditions in precolonial Africa remain unknown, Raphael Chijioke Njoku theorized that masquerades developed among the Bantu people sometime before 3000-2500 BCE. Other theories are drawn from folklore and legends.
Alex Asigbo argued that masquerade cults were developed by male elders as a form of social control. Through the age-old practices of witchcraft and sorcery, women were thought to possess immense power over their male counterparts.
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"Masquerades therefore perform certain social control functions by enforcing discipline and upholding natural law." With the exception of the Sande society, women in most African societies are not allowed to actively participate in masquerade activities.
Masks may symbolize spirits of the dead, totem animals, and other supernatural forces. During a performance, the masked masquerader transforms into the spirit or entity represented by the mask. The transformation of the mask wearer's identity is reinforced through song and dance.
Nwantantay or plank masks, for example, represent spirits of the natural word associated with water ranging from insects to waterfowl. Some groups like the Dogon people of Mali possess several masks, each with its own unique function.
The Dogon are governed by three main religious orders: the Awa (cult of the dead), Bini (cult of the ancestors), and Lebe (cult of nature). The importance of the spirit portrayed is often reflected by the masks's complexity and artistic quality.
Traditional African masks are worn in ceremonies and rituals across West, Central, and Southern Africa. They are used in events such as harvest celebrations, funerals, rites of passage, weddings and coronations. Masks representing dead ancestors play an important role in African funerals.
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Families often passed the tradition down from generation to generation. These show masks that look a lot like contemporary West African masks and date to about 11,000 years ago. There are three known types of masks depicting animal-headed gods from ancient Egypt. Two such masks also survive. Masks of the lion-headed god Bes also were used in rituals, including perhaps puberty rituals, as depicted in one tomb where a masked individual accompanied dancing boys.
African masks also serve as educational tools, as part of rituals to teach social roles and physical control or to settle disputes. They are used in events such as harvest celebrations, funerals, rites of passage, weddings and coronations. These masks served as a way for people to communicate with the spirit world.
As they are worn across many different cultures, the colors of African masks have multiple meanings. Black represents the unknown.
Diversity in Form and Function
African masks take on different forms. African masks usually emulate a human or animal face in an abstract way. The inherent lack of realism in African masks (and African art in general) is justified by the fact that most African cultures clearly distinguish the essence of a subject from its looks, the former, rather than the latter, being the actual subject of artistic representation.
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Stylish elements in a mask's looks are codified by the tradition and may either identify a specific community or convey specific meanings. For example, both the Bwa and the Buna people of Burkina Faso have hawk masks, with the shape of the beak identifying a mask as either Bwa or Buna. Traits representing moral values are found in many cultures.
Masks from the Senufo people of Ivory Coast, for example, have their eyes half closed, symbolizing a peaceful attitude, self-control, and patience. In Sierra Leone and elsewhere, small eyes and mouth represent humility, and a wide, protruding forehead represents wisdom. Others represent male or female figures. Certain patterns distinguish the two genders, with prominent bouffant hairstyles indicating women.
The Kanaga mask is a funerary mask worn by the Dogon people of Mali intended to ensure the safe passage of the deceased to the otherworld where his ancestors are. The threatening-looking Kòmò Helmet Mask is worn by the Bamana people of Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Côte d’Ivoire. Secret societies wear the mask during private meetings where they learn about the society’s history, rituals and beliefs.
The Nwatantay mask of the Bwa people of Burkina Faso represents natural spirits that cannot be seen by humans. The designs of the masks teach important moral and social lessons during dances performed for funerals, agricultural rituals, and initiations.
The helmet mask of the Mende people of Sierra Leone is unusual in that it is worn by female initiates of a young women’s association. While the face represents ideal female beauty, the beard indicates that women are equal to men in their knowledge.
The okuyi mask is worn among the Bantu people of Cameroon, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea during rites of passage such as infants reaching 4 months of age, adolescence, and funerals. These rituals can last for hours and are accompanied by dancing and singing.
The nkanda of the Democratic Republic of Congo wear these masks during puberty and circumcision rites. They represent ancestors or important figures within their culture. Muslim communities such as the Koro of Nigeria also use masks as part of rituals. The koro mask lacks any human or animal representations, in keeping with Islamic scripture.
Made by the Makonde people of Tanzania and Mozambique, these helmet masks featured prominently in rituals used during different life stages of children. During three day long funerals of the Senufo tribe in Côte d’Ivoire, members of the secret male Poro society wear these masks while beating on drums next to the funerary bed.
The Bobo people of Burkina Faso believe the son, Dwo, of the creator god, was left on earth to mediate between man and God. This mask represents him but does not depict him, because he cannot be seen, and is used in performances intended to maintain the balance of nature in the agricultural society.
From Rituals to Art: The Evolution of African Masks
The Materials and Construction of African Masks
The most commonly used material for masks is wood, although a wide variety of other elements can be used, including light stone such as steatite, metals such as copper or bronze, different types of fabric, pottery, and more. Some masks are painted (for example using ochre or other natural colorants). A wide array of ornamental items can be applied to the mask surface; examples include animal hair, horns, or teeth, sea shells, seeds, straw, egg shell, and feathers.
The general structure of a mask varies depending on the way it is intended to be worn. The most common type applies to the wearer's face, like most Western (e.g., carnival) masks. Others are worn like hats on the top of the wearer's head; examples include those of the Ekhoi people of Nigeria and Bwa people of Burkina Faso, as well as the famous chiwara masks of the Bambara people. Some masks (for example those of the Sande society of Liberia and the Mende people of Sierra Leone, that are made from hollow tree stumps) are worn like helmets covering both the head and face.
Wood is plentiful in Africa’s forests. The mask maker carves the mask using a traditional tool called an adze.
Animal Symbolism in African Masks
Animals are common subjects in African masks. Animal masks typically embody the spirit of animals, so that the mask-wearer becomes a medium to speak to animals themselves (e.g. to ask wild beasts to stay away from the village); in many cases, nevertheless, an animal is also (sometimes mainly) a symbol of specific virtues. Common animal subjects include the buffalo (usually representing strength, as in the Baoulé culture), crocodile, hawk, hyena, warthog and antelope.
Antelopes have a fundamental role in many cultures of the Mali area (for example in Dogon and Bambara culture) as representatives of agriculture. Dogon antelope masks are highly abstract, with a general rectangular shape and many horns (a representation of abundant harvest.
A common variation on the animal-mask theme is the composition of several distinct animal traits in a single mask, sometimes along with human traits. Merging distinct animal traits together is sometimes a means to represent unusual, exceptional virtue or high status.
Female Representation in African Masks
Another common subject of African masks is a woman's face, usually based on a specific culture's ideal of feminine beauty. Female masks of the Punu people of Gabon, for example, have long curved eyelashes, almond-shaped eyes, thin chin, and traditional ornaments on their cheeks, as all these are considered good-looking traits. Feminine masks of the Baga people have ornamental scars and breasts.
One of the well-known representations of female beauty is the Idia mask of Benin. It is believed to have been commissioned by King Esigie of Benin in memory of his mother.
Ancestor Veneration in African Masks
As the veneration of defunct ancestors is a fundamental element of most African traditional cultures, it is not surprising that the dead is also a common subject for masks. Masks referring to dead ancestors are most often shaped after a human skull. A special class of ancestor masks are those related to notable, historical or legendary people.
| Mask Type | Culture | Symbolism |
|---|---|---|
| Kanaga Mask | Dogon People (Mali) | Funerary mask ensuring safe passage of the deceased |
| Kòmò Helmet Mask | Bamana People (Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire) | Used by secret societies for teaching history, rituals, and beliefs |
| Nwatantay Mask | Bwa People (Burkina Faso) | Represents natural spirits and teaches moral and social lessons |
| Mende Helmet Mask | Mende People (Sierra Leone) | Worn by female initiates, symbolizing female beauty and equality |
| Okuyi Mask | Bantu People (Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea) | Used during rites of passage, such as infancy, adolescence, and funerals |
Commercialization and Cultural Appropriation
As African masks are largely appropriated by Europeans, they are widely commercialized and sold in most tourist-oriented markets and shops in Africa (as well as "ethnic" shops in the Western world). As a consequence, the traditional art of mask-making has gradually ceased to be a privileged, status-related practice, and mass production of masks has become widespread.
While, in most cases, commercial masks are (more or less faithful) reproductions of traditional masks, this connection is weakening over time, as the logics of mass-production make it harder to identify the actual geographical and cultural origins of the masks found in such venues as curio shops and tourist markets.
By the early 20th century, the same masks came to be regarded as art objects and were collected by and displayed in art museums. Collecting African art and masks, in particular, became en vogue among famous 20th century European and American artists. Unfortunately, some of the greatest collections of African masks are outside the continent.
However, critics have complained that these works are examples of cultural appropriation and that the original craftsmen who produced the masks were never compensated for their contribution to these works. President Emmanuel Macron of France commissioned a report on the restitution of sub-Saharan African art to Africa and the authors recommended that art in French museums either be temporarily or permanently returned to the continent from whence it came.
The curator and the family conducted a divination ceremony with the gods as part of the decision making process. The gods told them that the mask was no longer spiritually empowered so the museum put the mask on display with the family’s blessing.
You have to be careful when buying an African mask as forgeries are common. When he identifies one, he approaches the owner and asks for proof of how much they paid for the mask. He then makes them an offer to buy it at the same price. He has successfully returned a number of masks this way. Contemporary artists like Sefah Mohamed from Accra, and Abdul Aziz Mohamadu, sell their handmade masks at affordable prices online.
If you want to buy a historical & authentic African mask, be prepared to shell out a good sum of money. Attending an African masquerade is a special experience that generally requires being part of African societies.
