African Masks

From the travel, I learned about Powpow is meticulously divided into four types of dances such as women’s dances, men’s dances, youth’s dances, tiny tots and couple’s

Many Mesoamerican Indian groups in Mexico used and continue to use masks in their culture today. One of these Mesoamerican Indian groups includes the Hñahñu Indian people, also known as the Otomí Indians. Due to a loss of the unwritten customs and traditions that failed to continue by word of mouth, many mask-making origins have been lost. Researchers make assumptions with the little information they have obtained from researching the Otomíes and other close indigenous groups. The Otomí Indians associate many rituals with masks. Religious ceremonies and carnival celebrations often include masks. Masks were also often combined with storytelling, music, and rhythm (Bell). The masking rituals contain many religious and cultural aspects. The Otomí have a highly diverse history filled with cultural traditions in which masks are used to represent symbols or spirits. Masking traditions display the needs, beliefs, values and desire of a culture.

During Maus, the illustration of masks is made very obvious. The features are pronounced and it is very clear that the characters are wearing masks. The illustration of

The Maidu lived in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, in North Central California. They lived in villages with around two hundred people in them. Their homes were made from earth, bark and brush. The land provided animals and plants for them to eat. Everyone work clothes that were made from animal hide. Tools helped them hunt, build houses and survive. The Maidu Indians are an interesting tribe.

The most interesting part that I found was the dancing part. The Native Indian are always good at express their emotion through the dancing. Every tribe has they own way to express the reverence for natural, the delight of hunting and the desire of victory. These wonderful conversations between the Manitou and people, has formed the special art in the Native American. Certainly, there are music accompany with dances, and the instrument are contain spiritual symbol as well. For instance, drum plays an important role in the Powwow. The article “Without the drum, there would be no Powwow” mention that “ Our drum has character, we have that powwow spirit, and people dance.” Drum is not only represent the core of Native people faith, but also is the heartbeat of the creator. Powwow drum are often make by circle, because circle stands for lifecycle. People surrounding and beat the drum, like the life turning and returning.

Almost all artwork of the Northwest Coast Tribes has a story behind it. This mask is about a young boy named Alikwamae who was successful and well known among the people in his village. He was orphaned as a child and was therefore sent to live with his jealous uncle who one day abused him in hopes that he would die. He was very weak when he woke up but he found a mouse who took him to an Undersea Kingdom where he met the Chief of the Undersea Kingdom, Kumugwe. Alikwamae wanted to help his people so Kumugwe gave him a power that would allow him to transform into a sea bear. Alikwamae went back to his village and was able to transform, heal the sick and injured, predict the future, and interpret dreams. (www.montclairartmuseum.org)

There are numerous types of masks that come from the West African region, each represent a specific personality trait. Masks from Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Ghana, Senegal, Mali, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Gambia, and Sierra Leone all symbolize the various characteristics that can found in people. To find a mask that best fit my personality, I researched the various amount of masks that can be found in Ghana. Birds have been an important part in ancient animist cultures, whose tribal people believed that birds had spirits and played special roles in many aspects of life. Several African masks depict a bird on or above a human forehead, signifying a range of personalities from courage to intelligence. One of these masks is the Sonu Bird

Nothing is more real than the mask we choose to show each other who we are. In a coming-to-age novel, A Separate Peace, John Knowles depicts the common rivalry between young adolescents, where masks are used often. Gene is a student at an elite boarding school, Devon, when he meets Finny. As his jealousy grows towards Finny, it leads to an awful life-changing decision. When they are planning on a double jump, Gene bounces on the limb causing Finny to suffer from a horrible fall. Finny later finds out about the truth and runs away in fury, which caused him to break his leg again. As he was receiving a surgery for his injury, Finny died. Gene’s transformation involves the changes of his mask and shadow, which results in his later acceptance of

The Chivo mask is from Mexico, typically found in the state of Guerrero. The mask was first created and used in the village, Zitlala, after the Mexican Revolution. It is used for the ritual dance called “La Danza de los Chivos” or Dance of the Goats. However, the dance is now used in many other celebrations and festivities throughout other areas of Mexico, as well.

Aztec masks were used as ornaments, and were sometimes worn as part of a ritual, or in death as a death mask. They usually represented one god or another, and the Aztecs did have countless gods. Like the artistry and materials, the Aztecs worshipped gods collected from a variety of cultures. A common type of mask would have snakes on it, a representation of the god Quetzalcoatl or perhaps Tlaloc. The masks generally then were used for worship of the gods, whether by being displayed in a temple or worn by a priest.

What are masks? One usually thinks it is an object the individual puts on and takes off.

The female dancer re-enters the stage sans the blue shirt/shorts and repeats the gestures with a bit more feeling, and the male does the same thing after the female exits. The next time the female enters the stage, she is only in the colorful bra and black briefs. The male enters the stage in a black bra and colorful underwear. The color in the costumes sends a message of the differences between males and females, but the black undergarments lean towards blurring the lines of gender. The lights get brighter as clothing is shed. The two performers fully embody the gestures now, and seem to have more of an intimate connection with one another. The music constantly seems to be an underscore of the dance, but does not add much to it. The dancers share weigh and partner with more sensuality, and eventually are silhouetted with blue light as they return to gesture and awkward ballroom partnering. The lights fade as they continue to move.

In We Wear the Mask, the author’s purpose is to push the reader to feel something about the way things were in his perspective.

The third mask also deals with a secret society. This carved wood “Helmet Mask” (inventory # 5-13259) is thought to be from the Bamileke society of Cameroon and is dated to about 1976. Used in a men’s secret society known as the Kwifo (“night”), masks in this style disguised the members identities as they acted as a police force for the king. The Kwifo mediated conflicts, pronounced legal sentences, and carried out the resulting punishments. Different masks represented the various powers of the group and the carved headdress of this mask mirrors the prestige caps worn by elites and kings. The intertwined “legs” represent the earth spider, which, because it lived underground was thought to unite the world of the ancestors and spirits, who live in the earth, with that of humans. Revered for its supernatural wisdom and power it is often consulted

I chose to do my artwork analysis a little differently this time around. Since I have done a few missions into Africa and was able to see the different cultures first hand. One thing that I noticed immediately how much these tribes like to separate themselves among other tribes and how their spirits affect everything that they do on a daily basis. I chose to conduct my artwork analysis on a traditional African tribe mask. For me this is one of the most iconic pieces of artwork that one can see when looking into the African culture. There are too many different masks to list, so I am only looking into one specific mask and tribe.