TITLE: Baule Ram
TYPE: crest mask
GENERAL REGION: Africa
COUNTRY: Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
ETHNICITY: Baule
DESCRIPTION: Kuamanbo (Ram) Helmet Mask
CATALOG ID: AFCI009
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Goli Festival
AGE: ca. 1970s
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: paint; pigment

The Baule people of Côte d’Ivoire use many kinds of cultural masks and are known for the artistry and skill of their carvers. Several mask types are used in the Goli Festival, a day-long harvest celebration with music and feasting, where the masks are used for entertainment. This mask, worn atop the head, is also used to invoke the kuamanbo, a ram spirit that blesses the crops.

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TITLE: Aya Huma
TYPE: hood mask
GENERAL REGION: Latin America
COUNTRY: Ecuador
SUBREGION: Tabacundo
ETHNICITY: Quechua
DESCRIPTION: Black Aya Huma (Diablo Umo) mask
CATALOG ID: LAEC005
MAKER: Unknown maker in Tabacundo
CEREMONY: Inti Raymi
AGE: early 1970s
MAIN MATERIAL: dyed felt cloth
OTHER MATERIALS: dyed thread; cotton wadding

In Ecuador and Peru, the winter solstice is sometimes still celebrated by honoring the Incan sun god, Inti.  Some mistakenly consider this a summer solstice ceremony, apparently forgetting that, except in Colombia and the northern tip of Ecuador, the Andes are south of the Equator.   Inti Raymi takes place annually on June 24 and recreates the Incan ceremonies of the period.

Among the regalia worn during the celebration is the Aya Huma mask and suit, sometimes known as Diablo Umo. The Aya Huma carries a whip to drive away evil spirits during the ceremony. His mask is double-sided so that he cannot be surprised by evil spirits from behind. The rather symmetrical ears and noses represent the four cardinal points.  Although traditionally representing a protector spirit, Catholic zealots among the colonizers branded the masquerader satanic, whence comes the name Diablo Umo (Devil Head).

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TITLE: Halloween Wolf Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: North America
COUNTRY: United States of America
ETHNICITY: Mixed
DESCRIPTION: Buckram black wolf mask
CATALOG ID: NAUS006
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Halloween
AGE: ca. 1930s
MAIN MATERIAL: dyed buckram
OTHER MATERIALS: paint

Halloween is one of the major secular festivals in the United States, celebrated on October 31st each year.  It originated in pre-Christian times, possibly among the ancient Celts, who practiced Samhain in late fall by wearing frightening costumes and lighting bonfires in mid-autumn to scare away ghosts. In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III declared November 1st as a day to honor all the saints collectively. The celebration prior to this All Saints Day became known as All Hallows’ Eve (hence the shortened name, All Hallowe’en, eventually elided to Halloween), and involved many of the same traditions practiced by the Celts.

Halloween formerly had many traditions that varied by region.  In modern and relatively homogenized practice, Halloween generally has three main components: costumed parties, “trick-or-treating,” and haunted houses.  Costumed parties are the modern descendant of social activities designed to honor the saints and create solidarity in the community. Children’s parties typically involved games with prizes, such as bobbing for apples and carving pumpkins and other relatively dry squash into frightening “jack-o-lanterns” with candles inside for illumination.  Adult parties commonly involve less innocent games and elaborate decorations to create a scary mood.

Trick-or-treating is the children’s practice of wearing scary costumes to extort candy and other sweets from neighbors. Like roaming goblins, the monsters visiting the house would demand a treat or threaten to play a nasty trick on the neighbor. The threat is of course a formality, as sharing candy with trick-or-treaters is considered a mandatory practice for friendly and community-spirited neighbors. In modern practice, many children have abandoned the tradition of wearing frightening costumes and have leaned toward fantasy characters such as superheroes, princesses, and fairies.

Haunted houses are a relatively modern innovation.  They may be designed and staffed by volunteers or for profit, and generally take the form of a decrepit mansion haunted by ghosts, mad scientists, monsters, the walking dead, etc. The idea is to inspire terror and wonder in a factually safe environment.

In addition, many Americans celebrate by watching horror movies (the release of which Hollywood times to coincide with the Halloween season), and in some regions, most notably Greenwich Village, Manhattan in New York and Salem, Massachusetts, major costumed parades are organized each year.  In many cities, “zombie walks” composed of masses of costumed zombies have been organized as well.

Popular masks and costumes include devils, zombies, skeletons, vampires, werewolves, mummies, witches, pirates, political figures, and characters from popular culture, such as Frankenstein’s monster. However, Halloween costumes can include almost anything, including inanimate objects and abstractions.  The choice is limited only by the imagination of the masquerader.  Masks and costumes depicting offensive racial stereotypes, popular prior to the 1980s, are no longer widely used.

This specific mask, representing a wolf, was made from dyed buckram, moistened and dried over a form, then hand painted with details. Such mass-produced masks were popular among the middle class in the 1920s to 1950s, when they were replaced by vacuformed plastic.

For more on 20th century American Halloween costumes, see Phyllis Galembo, Dressed for Thrills: 100 Years of Halloween Costumes and Masquerade (New York: Harry N. Abrams Inc., 2002).

Click above to watch a documentary about Halloween in the United States.

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TITLE: Cajun Mardi Gras Clown Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: North America
COUNTRY: United States of America
SUB-REGION: Acadiana, Louisiana
ETHNICITY: Cajun
DESCRIPTION: Mesh Mardi Gras clown mask
CATALOG ID: NAUS048
MAKER: Chris Raymond (Metairie, Louisiana, 1964- )
CEREMONY: Courir de Mardi Gras
AGE: 2014
MAIN MATERIAL: steel wire mesh
OTHER MATERIALS: dyed cotton cloth; polyester border and fringe; glue; paint; elastic band

In Catholic practice, Mardi Gras (“Fat Tuesday”) is the last day of celebration of Carnival before the fasting period of Lent. In the Acadiana country of southern Louisiana, the descendants of French Canadian immigrants known as “Cajuns” (short for “Acadians”) celebrate Mardi Gras in a manner quite different from the better known Carnival of New Orleans.  The Courir de Mardi Gras (Mardi Gras parade) occurs in most towns of Cajun country only on Mardi Gras itself.

Masqueraders wear full or partial wire mesh masks and quilted suits with tall, conical hats covered in colorful fabric.  They either ride from farm to farm on horseback or drive as a group in trucks with an unmasked leader wearing the traditional Mardi Gras colors of green, purple, and gold.  When they reach a farm, the captain, who carries a whip in one hand and a white flag in the other, approaches the farmer and asks: “Le Mardi Gras demande votre permission pour visiter ta maison” (“The Mardi Gras requests permission to visit your house”), or words to that effect. Upon assent, the revelers descend and run or crawl toward the house, singing a begging song, then exploding into pranks and comedic antics while the captain tries to subdue them with his whip. The only way to make them leave is to donate gifts or money, traditionally a chicken for the evening gumbo, in which the farmer is invited to partake.

For more on the Acadian Carnival celebration, see the excellent book by Carl Lindahl and Carolyn Ware, Cajun Mardi Gras Masks (University Press of Mississippi, 1997).


Click above to watch a short documentary film about Cajun Mardi Gras in Louisiana, 2019 and 2024.

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TITLE: Abelam Bapamimi Mask
TYPE: other mask
GENERAL REGION: Oceania
COUNTRY: Papua New Guinea
SUBREGION: East Sepik River
ETHNICITY: Melanesian (Abelam)
DESCRIPTION: Bapamimi (Yam) Mask
CATALOG ID: OCPG002
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Wapisaki
FUNCTION: Agriculture
AGE: ca. 1940s
MAIN MATERIAL: woven plant fiber
OTHER MATERIALS: natural pigments

The Abelam people of the Sepik River area of Papua New Guinea use several types of masks, many of them intricately woven of plant fiber. The yam mask (bapamimi) is not worn by the tribe members, but instead is used to decorate giant yams after harvest during the yam festival (wapisaki). Abelam people assemble at a designated village and lines up the yams, which can reach up to three meters long and weigh over 50 kilograms. They decorate them with masks such as this one, flowers, and other regalia. Everyone then discusses the planting, harvesting, the shape and size, and other details of each yam, much in the same way that gardening aficionados in the Canada, Europe, and the United States compare their own vegetables and flowers at prize shows. The largest and best yams confer status on the grower.

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TITLE: Noh Okasshiki
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Asia
COUNTRY: Japan
ETHNICITY: Japanese
DESCRIPTION: Okasshiki mask
CATALOG ID: ASJP019
MAKER: Takiyama Ichiemon (Iso Tanba City, Hyogo, Japan, 1940- )
CEREMONY: Noh Drama
AGE: 2013
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: paint; lacquer; acrylic string

The Noh theater evolved from a combination of Chinese Nuo opera, popular village entertainment known as Sarugaku, and courtly Bugaku dance to become a uniquely Japanese form of high culture. Noh, or Nōgaku, probably first emerged as a distinct form of theater in the 14th century.  A wide variety of plays developed over the ensuing three hundred or so years, with masked characters playing an important role in most.  The masks require the actors to communicate through posture, body movement, and vocal control, whose perfection requires years of intense training.  Although the masks prevent the actor from using facial expression, the most expertly carved masks can be made to express different emotions at different angles, so that he actor can change facial expression by the tilting his head.

This mask is known as Okasshiki (or simply Kasshiki) and represents a young Zen Buddhist lay monk, whose role is announcing the day’s menu in the monastery dining room. He is easily recognized by his ginkgo leaf-shaped bangs. This specimen was acquired from Inoue Corporation of Kyoto.

For more on Noh masks, see the excellent book by Michishige Udaka and Shuichi Yamagata, The Secrets of Noh Masks (Tokyo: Kodansha International , 2010).


To watch a short documentary about Japanese Nogaku (Noh drama and Kyogen plays), click above.

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TITLE: Atoni Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Oceania
COUNTRY: Indonesia
SUBREGION: West Timor
ETHNICITY: Atoni
DESCRIPTION: Handheld Atoni mask
CATALOG ID: OCID011
MAKER: Unknown
FUNCTION: Status
AGE: 1970s
MAIN MATERIAL: fossilized coral
OTHER MATERIALS: N/A

The Atoni people make up the largest ethnic group on the island of Timor, which is politically divided between independent Timor-Leste to the east and Indonesian West Timor. The Atoni use two kinds of masks.  Ancestor masks are used for funerals, adult initiation, war victory celebrations, and other ceremonies commemorating major social events. Handheld masks like this one are used for a quite different purpose. It is believed that these masks were used for a socially acceptable form of stealing when a villager encountered hardship. By covering his face with a mask, the mask takes the blame for the theft and the person wearing it is exonerated. The mask thus helps the villager maintain “face,” as it were.

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TITLE: Kwakwaka’wakw Bear Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: North America
COUNTRY: Canada
SUBREGION: British Columbia
ETHNICITY: Kwakwaka’wakw
DESCRIPTION: Na̱n (Bear) Mask
CATALOG ID: NACA002
MAKER: Stanley Clifford Hunt (Fort Rupert, Victoria, 1954- )
CEREMONY: Potlatch
AGE: 1970s
MAIN MATERIAL: red cedar wood
OTHER MATERIALS: paint

A potlatch is a culturally important ceremony among the coastal indigenous Americans of British Columbia, held on many different occasions.  It could be held to celebrate a family member’s change in social status, such as a marriage, birth, death, or initiation into adulthood.  It could also be held to restore a person’s prestige after a loss in dignity, such as falling out of a canoe or making a hunting error.  The ceremony could last for one day or as long as three weeks, depending on the occasion and the wealth of the giver.

A potlatch typically included three important components: a feast, entertainment, and gift giving to the guests.  The entertainment consisted of singing and masked dancing.  The more lavish the gifts, feast, and entertainment, the greater the prestige gained by the giver.  Because masks and costumes were expensive and time-consuming to make, larger and more elaborate masks raised the prestige of the potlatch giver.  The masks themselves represented totemic animals such as the killer whale, raven, beaver, or shark, or else mythical figures and beasts, such as the KomokwaDzunukwa or Bukwus. This mask represents the na̱n (bear), a spiritually powerful totemic animal that is considered an ancestor of the Kwakwaka’wakw people.

For more on masks of the coastal peoples of western Canada, see Peter MacNair, Robert Joseph & Bruce Grenville, Down from the Shimmering Sky: Masks of the Northwest Coast (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre Ltd., 1998) and Edward Malin, A World of Faces: Masks of the Northwest Coast Indians (Portland: Timber Press, 1978).

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TITLE: Chuto Mask
TYPE: hood mask
GENERAL REGION: Latin America
COUNTRY: Peru
SUBREGION: Jauja
ETHNICITY: Quechua
DESCRIPTION: Chuto mask
CATALOG ID: LAPE021
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Tunantada; Chonginada
AGE: 1979
MAIN MATERIAL: leather
OTHER MATERIALS: wool; glass eyes; pigment

The Tunantada is a dance performed in the Jauja region of Peru during the January Festival of San Sebatián and San Fabián, patron saints of the town. Dancers in wire mesh masks represent the Spaniards, who oppress the chutos, or Amerindians.  The dance-drama satirizes all the groups of the colonial period.  It is a group dance, in which each character of the set performs different steps to the rhythm of a single melody.

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TITLE: Marimonda Mask
TYPE: hood mask
GENERAL REGION: Latin America
COUNTRY: Colombia
SUBREGION: Barranquila
ETHNICITY: Mestizo
DESCRIPTION: Marimonda (mythical forest creature) mask
CATALOG ID (Marimonda): LACO005
CATALOG ID (El Congo): LACO001
CATALOG ID (Tigre): LACO002
CATALOG ID: (Torito): LACO003
CATALOG ID (Negra Puloy): LAOC004
CATALOG ID(s): LACO001; LACO002; LACO003; LACO004; LACO005
MAKER: Adelaide Agámez (Barranquila)
CEREMONY: Carnival
AGE: 2015
MAIN MATERIAL: polyester fabric
OTHER MATERIALS: sequins; stitching

In some parts of Colombia, Carnival is celebrated with a masquerade that both invokes the protection of forest spirits and ridicules high society. The Marimonda is a character that originated in the town of Barranquila to represent a cross between an elephant and monkey. The costume was created by the poor, who had little to spend on elaborate costumes.  The masquerader formerly wore his cheap clothing inside out with a tie, whistling loudly to insult the ruling class and lazy public officials. Today, gaudier costumes are more common, and the Marimonda mask and costume are commonly made with shiny and colorful fabrics and adorned with sequins. Technically, the word marimonda refers to a class of white-bellied spider monkeys in South America, but the Marimonda Carnival character is only loosely based on the animal.

Other popular Colombian Carnival characters (also shown here) are the jaguar, the little bull, and dog (not shown).  The negra puloy or palenquera represents a joyous black woman, descendant of the freed slaves brought to Colombia, who dances the fandango. Frequently, the negra puloy is not a masked character, but an Afro-Colombian girl wearing red, white and black costume with a short skirt and large necklace and earrings. The Congo is one of the oldest Colombian carnival characters and represents an indigenous war dancer. The dancers accordingly carry a wooden machete and dance in an organized group. The glasses are of course an anomaly, but non-masked Congo dancers frequently wear sunglasses.

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