With over 3,000 diverse ethnic groups spread over 54 countries, Africa offers a huge variety of traditions, customs, and forms of art. Among the most famous artworks produced on the continent are functional masks, which reflect the great importance of theater and masquerades in African education, ritual, and entertainment. Different forms of masks include face masks, body masks, and headdresses, and all of these serve as tools used to teach history, religion, and mythology; to remind people of traditions or enforce laws; and to honor distinguished community members and royalty. Masks are a prominent feature of African cultural heritage. The history, use, and symbolism of masks vary across national, ethnic, and cultural identities.
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. "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. 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.
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.
Read also: Step-by-Step Mask Guide
Common Subjects 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. 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. 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.
Materials and Construction
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.
Read also: Exploring the Significance of African Masks
Ngil mask from Gabon or Cameroon; wood colored with kaolin (chiny clay); by Fang people; Ethnological Museum of Berlin (Germany).
The Makonde People and the Mapiko Tradition
Mapiko divided into two morphological categories: helmet masks and facemasks (while both called mapiko, facemasks are more specifically called makonma).
The lipiko themselves, worn over the head like a helmet, are carved from wild kapok trees, locally called ntene, with the eyes of the dancer looking out through the mouth. They are decorated with very specific characteristics that are representative of certain ethnic groups or genders. For example, the pelele. or lip plug, is often an indication of a female mask while a mask with a beard is representative of a male. Pigments also can be an indication of gender with red and yellow typically representing females and brown and black representing males. Lighter pigments can also be representative of a lighter-skinned, non-African character.
Scarification, where groves are cut into the wood, is also often present and is used to show different tattoos that are specific to certain ethnic and cultural groups that may be competing against one another in a mapiko. Hairstyles can also be representative of certain ethnic groups, which is determined through the various ways in which the hair is styled.
During initiation both girls and boys are taught how to make and perform with masks. Women however, perform their initiation only once a year away from the village and males never see their masks. The male’s mapiko on the other hand, is performed publicly to celebrate both male and female initiation and is performed only by the males. The masks themselves are carved in great secrecy away from the community. All males are taught the skill of woodcarving and therefore carving is not viewed as a means for economic support and while they take pride in their work, they do not consider themselves professional artists.
Read also: Understanding Goma Masks
Once the mask, along with the rest of the full-body costume and accessories including beads, rattles, kerchiefs, flywhisks, and scepters are in place, the dancers take on the role of whatever character their costume represents. The individual’s human status is no longer recognized as he participates in the foundational myth that allows him to fully embody the spirit and character of the mask. This spirit is so powerful that the men can hardly control it and the women cannot go near it, therefore it is said to be dangerous for audience members to go near the performers.
Along with the dancers are drummers and singers who’s role is equally important to the mapiko. Although most Makonde today recognize that the presence of a dangerous spirit possessing the dancers is not necessarily true, the tradition remains. However, today it has also become more common for young men to form various groups of mapiko dancers and for the ceremonies to take on a more competitive nature where different views of contemporary life are represented and performed through this masking tradition. Today the lipiko can be representative of a wide variety of characters including, animals, mythical characters, men, women, Makonde and outsiders. However, this new approach to the mapiko has created some tension between the younger and older generations.
African Art - The Market of Masks (Documentary of 2015)
One character that is often represented in the masks is a pregnant female. In this case, in addition to the female lipiko, a male dancer will wear a full body mask, called the Anwalindembo, representing a pregnant stomach. During a performance with these masks the dancer dramatizes the agonies of childbirth.
Commercialization of African Masks
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.
Example of facial scarification in an African person, c. 'Slayer' scars are given to huntsmen based on their accolades in battle, the hunt, or societal basis. The motifs behind these markings are meant to symbolize a hunter's constant strides towards reincarnation.
