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Bozo Sogo Kun

TITLE: Bozo Sogo Kun
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Africa
COUNTRY: Mali
ETHNICITY: Bozo
DESCRIPTION: Sogo Kun Mask
CATALOG ID: AFML011
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Entertainment; Social Status
AGE: ca. 1970s
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: paint; dyed cloth; plant fiber; hardware

The Bozo people of Mali inhabit the area along the Niger River and live predominantly by fishing. Many have been converted to Islam, but they nonetheless maintain animist beliefs and masking traditions today. Unlike other west and central African peoples, however, the Bozo do not use masks for important spiritual functions so much as for entertainment.  Masks and associated puppets (sometimes, the two are combined) entertain the village and raise the dancer’s social status through demonstrations of skill in mask making and dancing.

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Bassa Geh-Naw

TITLE: Bassa Geh-Naw
TYPE: forehead mask
GENERAL REGION: Africa
COUNTRY: Liberia
ETHNICITY: Bassa
DESCRIPTION: Geh-Naw Nor Society Forehead Mask
CATALOG ID: AFLR001
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Nor Society
FUNCTION: Adult Initiation; Celebration; Secret Society
AGE: ca. 1980s
MAIN MATERIAL: hardwood
OTHER MATERIALS: N/A

The Bassa people inhabit the central coastal region of Liberia. They have several secret societies for both males and females, and some societies have socially important masking functions. The geh-naw mask is used by the Nor Society.  It is fixed to a wicker framework and worn on the forehead over a cloth and raffia costume during adult initiation ceremonies for boys. The dancer glides around to the beat of drums, seeing only through holes in the basketry sustaining the mask.

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Kuba Lele Mask

TITLE: Kuba Lele Mask
TYPE: helmet mask
GENERAL REGION: Africa
COUNTRY: Congo, Dem. Rep. of
SUBREGION: Kasai River
ETHNICITY: Lele (Kuba)
DESCRIPTION: Helmet Mask
CATALOG ID: AFCD005
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Celebration; Funeral; Secret Society; Status
AGE: ca. 1980s
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: cotton cloth; cowrie shells; beads

The Lele people are a subgroup of the Kuba ethnic group of the Democratic Republic of Congo, inhabiting the Kasai River basin. They dance masked on many occasions, including festivals celebrating the mythical founding of the people and funerals of important individuals.  Lele masks have affinities with those of the Kuba people more generally, but they have a distinctive flattened face.  Cowrie shells and glass beads were valuable trade goods and their use denotes wealth and status.

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Bamana N’tomo Mask

TITLE: Bamana N’tomo Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Africa
COUNTRY: Mali
ETHNICITY: Bamana (Bambara)
DESCRIPTION: Painted N’tomo Society Mask
CATALOG ID: AFML002
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Secret Society; Social Control; Status
AGE: Late 20th century
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: oil paint; hardware repair

The Bamana people, sometimes called Bambara, are one of the largest ethnic groups in Mali. They have six major secret societies of different levels of prestige that conduct adult initiation rituals. Initiates are taught survival skills, social customs, and religious principles. The N’tomo Society originally comprised only uncircumcised boys and teaches the virtues of silence and discipline. For this reason, the N’tomo Society masks tend to have small, closed mouths.

Many Bamana masks also have brass plating, unlike this one.  Blacksmithing and metallurgy play an important role in the N’tomo Society, so a brass covering greatly increases the status of a mask. However, the Bamana people, like many African peoples, are also fond of bright colors and use paint to increase the appeal of their masks.

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Bidjogo Dugn-be

TITLE: Bidjogo Dugn-be
TYPE: helmet mask
GENERAL REGION: Africa
COUNTRY: Guinea-Bissau
SUBREGION: Bissagos Islands
ETHNICITY: Bidjogo
DESCRIPTION: Dugn-be (Village Ox) helmet mask
CATALOG ID: AFGW001
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Adult Initiation
AGE: 1970s-1980s
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: plant fiber; cotton strips; kaolin clay

The Bidjogo people (also written Bijogo or Bidyogo) are a small ethnic group inhabiting coastal Guinea-Bissau. They continue to practice their animistic religion, resisting conversion to Islam unlike many neighboring peoples.  Their masks are primarily used in manratche, the adult initiation ritual for boys. There are actually multiple initiation rituals in Bidjogo society, ranking boys based on their age group. Unlike most African ethnic groups, the Bidjogo do not have specialized carvers; instead, each family makes its own masks.

The ox is an unusual masking choice in Africa, because normally masks are intended to invoke the power of wild animals and their special traits. In contrast, oxen are domesticated (dugn-be means literally “ox raised in the village”), brought to the Bidjogo by Portuguese traders late in the fifteenth century. The Bidjogo economy soon began to revolve domesticated cattle at least as much as their traditional fishing.

Initiates in the middle age group of boys wear the masks to celebrate the wild nature of post-puberty life. Masqueraders imitate the ox’s aggressive behavior. Initiation masks are critical to achieving the social status necessary for creating objects of religious worship used for entering the afterworld where the deceased becomes one with the Bidjogo god.

The Bidjogo use four different kinds of bull masks. The white triangle at the center of its upper brow marks this mask as a dugn’be. Dancers wear the mask attached to a long, cylindrical wood or wicker neck that rests on their shoulders with a raffia costume.

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Kuba Mukenga Mask

TITLE: Kuba Mukenga Mask
TYPE: helmet mask
GENERAL REGION: Africa
COUNTRY: Congo, Dem. Rep. of
SUBREGION: Western Kasai
ETHNICITY: Kuba
DESCRIPTION: Mukenga helmet mask
CATALOG ID: AFCD002
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Funeral; Secret Society; Status
AGE: ca. 1960s
MAIN MATERIAL: cloth
OTHER MATERIALS: wood; glass beads; cowrie shells; leopard fur; thread; plant fiber; metal plating

The Kuba people of the Democratic Republic of Congo have several masks associated with royalty. The mukenga mask is associated with the highest status of the Babende initiation society through its invocation of the most powerful forest animals, the leopard and the elephant (note its trunk-like crest). Cowrie shells and glass beads were valuable trade goods and their use denotes wealth and status.

Mukenga masks are danced at funerals of titled nobility by members of the mukenga society. Because the mukenga masquerader has no vision (the helmet mask has no eye holes), attendants assist him to remain within the dance area. The mukenga dancer represents an important person visiting the village to pay respects to the deceased.

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Baule Klolo Mask

TITLE: Baule Klolo Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Africa
COUNTRY: Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
ETHNICITY: Baule
DESCRIPTION: Klolo (Elephant) Mask
CATALOG ID: AFCI014
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Purification; Spirit Invocation
AGE: ca. 1970s-1980s
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: kaolin clay

Before major festivals, the Baule people sometimes dance masks representing potent animal spirits to purify the village. This mask represents the revered elephant and is known as klolo, or sometimes lébé.  The abstraction of this specific elephant mask is striking and greater than usual among its type.  It is likely that this mask is used in much the same way as the zi mask of the southern (Dje) Guro people, to which the klolo bears a strong resemblance. The zi mask represents a powerful spirit tamed by the village that is used to purify the village of harmful spirits, especially witchcraft.

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Chokwe Mwana Pwo

TITLE: Chokwe Mwana Pwo
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Africa
COUNTRY: Congo, Dem. Rep. of
ETHNICITY: Chokwe
DESCRIPTION: Mwana Pwo (Young Woman) Mask
CATALOG ID: AFCD009
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Entertainment; Spirit Invocation
AGE: ca. 1980s-1990s
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: string

The populous Chokwe people of Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Zambia are known as some of the most skilled wood carvers in Africa. They resisted colonization far longer than most peoples of the region, despite repeated incursions by the Portuguese and other Europeans.

The Chokwe use masks in many contexts. The mwana pwo (young woman) mask invokes the spirit of a female ancestor in her most beautiful youth. The dark skin, decorative forehead and cheek scars, high forehead, narrow nose, and filed teeth represent the idealized Chokwe female. The mwana pwo is mostly danced for purposes for entertainment at festivals, but it is thought to increase the fertility of the women who attend.

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Yoruba Gelede Mask

TITLE: Yoruba Gelede Mask
TYPE: crest mask
GENERAL REGION: Africa
COUNTRY: Nigeria
ETHNICITY: Yoruba
DESCRIPTION: Gelede Mask with Family Sculptures
CATALOG ID: AFNG012
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Gelede Society
AGE: early 2000s
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: paint

The highly populous Yoruba people inhabit much of Nigeria and parts of Benin. The Gelede Society originates in cultural myths about Yemoja, the mother of all living things, who could not conceive children until she learned a dance with a wooden image on her head. The Gelede is named after Yemoja’s chubby daughter, and the dance therefore has a close connection with fertility rites. Nonetheless, the Gelede ceremony performs diverse functions in Yoruba society, including to pray for rain, purify the village of disease, to enlist spiritual help in wartime, and to honor the dead.

For more on the Gelede ceremony, see Babatunde Lawal’s incomparable monograph, The Gelede Spectacle (University of Washington Press, 1996).

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Baule Bo Nun Amuin

TITLE: Baule Bo Nun Amuin
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Africa
COUNTRY: Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
ETHNICITY: Baule
DESCRIPTION: Bo Nun Amuin Mask
CATALOG ID: AFCI016
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Funeral; Protection; Social Control; Spirit Invocation
AGE: ca. 1980s
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: pigment

The Baule are a relatively large ethnic group inhabiting the eastern Côte d’Ivoire and parts of Ghana. They have a variety of masking traditions, but their most religiously important is the bo nun amuin. Bo nun amuin, translated roughly “god risen from the bush,” are sacred masks worn only by men. They channel powerful bush spirits and as such are used at funerals of village notables, to protect the village from external threats, and to instill discipline and punishment on violators of customs, especially women. They are danced to the sound of a loud bull-roarer, to warn women and children not to watch.

In the past, bo nun amuin were kept in shrines outside of the village, but now are brought to bush shrines on the day before the dance. The men formerly appear naked before the masks to assure the spirit of their masculinity, but today they simply drop their pants when they approach the masks. Before crossing the shrine’s threshold palm wine or gin will be poured over it, and then spat onto the mask as an offering to the mask spirit. Before the 1970’s, war prisoners were sacrificed to the spirit, but today animals such as dogs or chickens are used.  The society eats the sacrificial meat, and then the heart and liver of the animal is spat on the mask as an offering. The dancer is bathed and puts on protective amulets, blade shaped bark around his hands and knees, and rattles on his feet. The society next evokes the spirit by singing, and the mask can then leave the shrine for the dance. After the dance, the men shout “k buno,” “go back to the bush,” to usher the potentially dangerous spirit out of the village.

Bo nun amuin masks have varied forms, but they tend to assume the form of a mythological beast combining attributes of an antelope and leopard, sometimes with anthropomorphic features as well. The resemblance to the kponyungo or “fire spitter” funerary mask of their Senufo neighbors is sometimes striking. This specific mask has the relatively unusual shape of an abstract, elongated warthog.

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