African Masks

1
African Masks

• The first purpose of an African mask is to act as
  a temporary dwelling place for a spirit,
  being or force, which is invisible because it
  is not permanently united with a body

2

• A mask is a visible manifestation of a god.

3

• An African mask is not a disguise used to hide an
  identity. A masked figure is not a man pretending
  to be godlike, but a god who becomes visible at
  times of ceremony and ritual.

4

• A vital part of religious and social life, masks
  are used for rites of passage initiation,
  funerals and agricultural rites to secure an
  abundant harvest.

5

• With few exceptions the use of the mask is
  restricted to men. Women are not even allowed to
  see certain masks.

6

• Different types of hard and soft wood are made
  to make masks. This is added to a combination of
  other materials copper, brass, feathers, human
  hair, textiles, glass and glass beads. They are
  also carved in ivory and cast in bronze. They can
  include the addition of more modern fabrics such
  as buttons and plastics.

7

• The surface is oiled, stained or treated with
  vegetable dye, or painted, often in several
  colours. These may have symbolic significance.
  For example, white is the colour of the spirit
  world, mourning and illness.

8

• African sculptors, usually men, offer a blessing
  before cutting off the part of a tree needed for
  their work.

9

• They use simple tools, beginning with the adze,
  an axe with the blade horizontal to the shaft.

10

• They work from broad areas of detail from adze to
  chisel to knife. Finally the surface is scraped
  smooth with broken glass or sandpaper. Tiny
  details or holes are burnt in with a hot wire.

11

• African works of art are often considered to be
  the product of nameless people who obey time
  honoured traditions and who work in a very
  prescribed manner, with little room for personal
  decisions or choices.

12

• The mask maker does not imitate a human face or
  an animal head. He aims to realise in his
  materials by the use of imaginative forms the
  most expressive part of the body of a force
  more powerful than man.