TITLE: Rey Moro Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Latin America
COUNTRY: Ecuador
SUBREGION: Latacunga
ETHNICITY: Mestizo
DESCRIPTION: Rey Moro (King Moor) Mask
CATALOG ID: LAEC001
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Fiesta de la Mama Negra
AGE: 1920s-1930s
MAIN MATERIAL: wood
OTHER MATERIALS: pigment
The Fiesta de la Mama Negra (Festival of the Black Mama) is a celebration held in September and again in early November in Latacunga, Ecuador. The event originates in pre-colonial indigenous practices and was adapted to honor the Virgin of Mercy (Virgen de la Merced) after Catholic conversion, in thanks for her supposed intervention to protect the population from eruptions from the nearby Cotopaxi volcano. The festival has become one of the most important in Latacunga, and includes a parade (comparsa) featuring the Mama Negra prominently as an African version of Mary, mother of Jesus.
Other important masks include animals, the Rey Moro (King Moor, showing the influence of the Conquistadors), angels, clowns (payasos abanderados), shamans (huacos), and miscellaneous other characters. This mask, dating back to the early twentieth century, most probably represents the Rey Moro, judging by the Islamic star on his forehead.
