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Fasnet Gretle

TITLE: Fasnet Gretle
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Europe
COUNTRY: Germany
SUBREGION: Swabia
ETHNICITY: Swabian (German)
DESCRIPTION: Gretle Narro
MAKER: Unknown maker in Todtmoos
CATALOG ID: EUDE007
CEREMONY: Fasnet (Carnival)
AGE: 1973
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: paint; lacquer; elastic straps

In many parts of Swabia and Bavaria, Carnival (usually called Fasnet or Fastnet in this region of Germany) is celebrated with parades of masked clowns (Narren).  The clown parade (Narrensprung) is organized by guilds (Zarrenzunft), all members of which wear similar costumes and masks.  Each town has its own guilds, with some overlap in styles of Narro.  Their purpose is to usher in the spring with joy and laughter.

The small town of Todtmoos in Baden-Württemberg has a Carnival tradition of parading clowns called Gretle, a comical woman in a red cap and gown and carrying a red umbrella. The Gretles are organized by the Lebküchler Guild.

Regrettably, the best texts on Carnival in Bavaria and Swabia are still available in German only: Heinz Wintermantel’s Hoorig, hoorig isch die Katz (Würzburg: Konrad Theiss, 1978) and Dick Eckert’s Die Werdenfelser Fasnacht und ihre Larven (Volk Verlag München, 2015).

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Nonchi Akka Mask

TITLE: Nonchi Akka Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Asia
COUNTRY: Sri Lanka
ETHNICITY: Sinhalese
DESCRIPTION: Nonchi Akka (crazy old lady) mask
CATALOG ID: ASLK001
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Kolam Natima
AGE: ca. 1940s
MAIN MATERIAL: kadura (Strychnox nux vomica) wood
OTHER MATERIALS: paint

The masked dance of Sri Lanka developed from shamanic healing and purification rituals, and  split along two lines.  The first, Yakun Natima, is the healing dance performed by a shaman.  Each demon (yakku) represents a specific disease or ailment, and to invoke the demon, the shaman wears a mask depicting the symptoms or symbols of the disease. When performing as a group, a character known as Kola Sanni Yakka, who is a kind of amalgamation of all diseases, presides over the demons.

The second line, Kolam Natima is a storytelling dance drama involving 40 masked characters of very diverse types. The story originates in a myth of a pregnant Sinhalese queen who develops a craving to see masked dances. She begs her husband, the king, to arrange it, but he knows of no such dances. At his request, the god Sekkria, one of the four guardian gods, carves the masks and teaches the people how to perform the dance. They perform for the royal audience, and the baby is consequently born strong and healthy. The stories told with the masks are not a single cohesive narrative, but a series of stories that merge Sinhalese folk traditions with Buddhist Jataka stories, which tell of the former lives of the Buddha.

A Kolam Natima performance begins with ritual addresses to gods and the Buddha. What follows is a prologue showing brief stock, mostly comical, scenes from traditional Sri Lankan society.  Finally, the king and the queen in very large masks enter with their retinue, whence they watch the dance.  The performance ends with the dance, typically involving Gara demons, Nagas (snake demons) and the Garuda (a Naga-eating god-bird) who were eventually reconciled by the Buddha. The performance is intended to purify the village and to spread prosperity.

This mask represents the comical servant Nonchi Akka, often used in traditional kolam to amuse the audience with punning dialogue.

For more on the masks of Sri Lanka, see Alain Loviconi, Masks and Exorcisms of Sri Lanka (Paris: Éditions Errance, 1981).

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St. George Mask

TITLE: St. George Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Latin America
COUNTRY: Guatemala
SUBREGION: Rabinal
ETHNICITY: Mayan
DESCRIPTION: San Jorge (St. George) mask
CATALOG ID: LAGT043
MAKER: Unknown maker in Rabinal
CEREMONY: Baile de San Jorge
AGE: early 20th century
MAIN MATERIAL: hardwood
OTHER MATERIALS: paint

This mask was used in the Baile de San Jorge, also known as the Baile de la Serpiente or Baile de la Sierpe, retelling the mythical battle of St. George against a dragon. The story orginates in 9th century Europe (with much older antecedents) and tells of a dragon that extorted tribute from villagers in Cappadocia (translocated in later stories to Libya). When the villagers ran out of livestock and trinkets for the dragon, they started giving the dragon a human tribute once a year by lot. When a princess was chosen as the next offering. St. George rescued the princess and killed the dragon.

The dance has special meaning for the cultural conquest of the Mayan Empire by the Spanish Empire, because the “dragon” vanquished by St. George would have represented the Mayan feathered serpent god, Quetzalcoatl. By depicting a Catholic saint killing a dragon, the Spanish missionaries tried to convert a Mayan ritual into a vehicle for Catholic proselytization. This mask has been repainted several times due to wear to the paint.

For more on Guatemalan masks, see Jim Pieper, Guatemala’s Masks and Drama (University of New Mexico Press, 2006)

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Diablesa Mask

TITLE: Diablesa Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Latin America
COUNTRY: Bolivia
SUBREGION: Oruro
ETHNICITY: Quechua and Aymara
DESCRIPTION: Diablesa Half Mask
CATALOG ID: LABO006
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Carnival (La Diablada)
AGE: ca. late 1970s
MAIN MATERIAL: tin sheet
OTHER MATERIALS: brass chain; synthetic fibers; paint

The Diablada (Dance of the Devils) is an annual ceremony in several towns in the Altiplano region of Bolivia, Peru, and northern Chile, usually incorporated into Carnival.  The dance includes both male and female devils dancing in a group led by the Archangel Michael.

This mask represents a diablesa (female devil), made from recycled tin, spray painted and hand finished. The costume of the diablesa in Oruro is usually elaborately decorated and somewhat revealing, although the character may be danced by a man or a woman.

For more on Bolivian masquerade, see Peter McFarren ed., Masks of the Bolivian Andes (La Paz: Editorial Quipus/Banco Mercantil SA, 1993).

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Kali Mask

TITLE: Kali Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Asia
COUNTRY: Nepal
ETHNICITY: Tharu
DESCRIPTION: Kali (Durga) Mask
CATALOG ID: ASNP008
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Mahabharata Dance Drama
AGE: ca. 1960s
MAIN MATERIAL: hardwood
OTHER MATERIALS: paint

The Mahabharata is an ancient Hindu religious text that tells epic stories of heroes, gods, and demons from India’s storied past. The Mahabharata has inspired dance dramas through India and other countries influenced by Hinduism, including southern Nepal, where the Tharu and Rajbansi peoples live. These ethnic groups are closely related to their Indian neighbors.

This mask represents Kali, a god who leapt from Durga’s brow in order to kill certain demons, but became so battle raged that she began killing everything in her path until Shiva stopped her by throwing himself under her feet. Kali is considered another side of Durga, but destructive and evil, and so she appears black and ferocious, with her tongue hanging out in blood lust.

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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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Carnival Character

TITLE: Carnival Character
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Europe
COUNTRY: Switzerland
SUBREGION: Lucerne
ETHNICITY: Swiss
DESCRIPTION: Character Mask
CATALOG ID: EUCH012
MAKER: Toni Meier (Kriens, 1941- )
CEREMONY: Fasnacht (Carnival)
AGE: 2011
MAIN MATERIAL: linden wood
OTHER MATERIALS: paint; lacquer; dyed cotton cap

Fasnacht is what the Swiss call Carnival.  In many towns in Switzerland, Austria, southern Germany, and northern Italy, local folk don elaborate masks and costumes to parade through the town.  Different Swiss towns have variations on the parade, such as Fasnacht of Basel, the Tschäggättä of Lötschental, or the Rabadan of Bellinzona.

Although traditional masked Carnival is no longer celebrated in most of Lucerne, in the town of Kriens, masquerade using masks called Muur or Hübeli still plays a role. Two types of masked are typically used in this region, satirical character masks such as this one, which can represent either sex. Character masks come in many different types, such as the Wöschwyb (washerwoman) and Alter (old man). The other type are Schreckmasken (fright masks) representing scary men, known as the Krienser Deckel (Kriens head) and Buuremaa (farmer).

Unfortunately, the best book on Swiss masking traditions is available in German only: Albert Bärtsch, Holzmasken: Fasnachts- und Maskenbrauchtum in der Schweiz, in Süddeutschland und Österreich (AT Verlag 1993).

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Flums Carnival Mask

TITLE: Flums Carnival Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Europe
COUNTRY: Switzerland
SUBREGION: Flums
ETHNICITY: Swiss
DESCRIPTION: Alte Frau (Old Woman) Mask
CATALOG ID: EUCH008
MAKER: Marcus DeFlorin (Flums, 1959- )
CEREMONY: Fasnacht (carnival)
AGE: 2011
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: paint; wool hair; cloth

Fasnacht is what the Tyrolean Swiss call Carnival.  In many towns in Austria, southern Germany, Switzerland, and northern Italy, local folk don elaborate masks and costumes to parade through the town.  Different towns have variations on the parade, such as the Schemenlaufen of Imst, the Schellerlaufen of Nassereith, and the Muller and Matschgerer of Innsbruck, Austria.

In Flums, carnival masks have a distinctive pear shape and tend to have a satirical purpose. The Flums style has been highly influential in neighboring villages.

Unfortunately, the best book on Swiss masking traditions is available in German only: Albert Bärtsch, Holzmasken: Fasnachts- und Maskenbrauchtum in der Schweiz, in Süddeutschland und Österreich (AT Verlag 1993).

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Javanese Laksmana

TITLE: Javanese Laskmana
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Asia
COUNTRY: Indonesia
SUBREGION: Java
ETHNICITY: Javanese
DESCRIPTION: Laksmana (Lakshmana) Mask
CATALOG ID: ASID026
MAKER: Ganuh Nugroho AdiNarimo (Surakarta, 1966- )
CEREMONY: Wayang Wong Dance Drama
AGE: 1990s
MAIN MATERIAL: pule wood
OTHER MATERIALS: paint; leather strap; steel staples

The Wayang Wong dance drama retells parts of the Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. These epics revolve around the god Rama and his battle with the demon king Ravana, who has abducted Rama’s wife, Sita. Rama is the avatar (earthly embodiment) of the supreme god Vishnu. In the end, Rama retrieves her with the help of the wily monkey god, Hanuman.

This specific mask represents the character Laksmana (also spelled Lakshmana), younger brother and boon companion to Rama, who plays an important role throughout the epic. He is somehow considered one-quarter a manifestation of Vishnu and an avatar of Shesha, a many-headed king of all nagas (demigods who take the form of giant king cobras).

The mask would be worn by the masquerader biting down on the strap to hold the mask in place. This leaves the character mute throughout the performance.

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Yaure Lo Mask

TITLE: Yaure Lo Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Africa
COUNTRY: Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
ETHNICITY: Yaure
DESCRIPTION: Lo Mask
CATALOG ID: AFCI021
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Je Ceremony
AGE: ca. 1960s
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: N/A

The Yaure people of Côte d’Ivoire are avid and skilled wood carvers. They have two main types of masks, the yu spirit and the lo spirit, and both are used in the Je Ceremony at funerals.  The yu masqueraders dance first to convert the dangerous yu spirit from a threat to the village into its protector. Lo masks like this one are danced last and help release the spirit of the dead for its journey to the next world. Unlike the brightly painted yu masks, lo masks are left dark.

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