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As African masks are largely appropriated by Europeans, they are widely commercialized and sold in most tourist-oriented markets and shops in Africa (as well as "ethnic" shops in the Western world). As a consequence, the traditional art of mask-making has gradually ceased to be a privileged, status-related practice, and mass production of masks ...
The general uninitiated public tends to see there various animal subjects : the kommolo tebu (a bird), [2] the lizard, the iguana, the barâmkamza dullogu (a water insect), the hand of God or the female spirit of the trees (gyinu ya). [3] The mask is represented both in male and female form. The male version is the most numerous. [4]
Black fiber mantle sewn around bottom of mask. According to Bobo beliefs, the god Wuro created the world and then appointed his son, Dwo, to assist humanity. All Bobo masks serve as a means of contact between human beings and these deities; some represent the deities themselves while others, called bolo masks, depict animals and people.
It also covers spirits as well as deities found within the African religions—which is mostly derived from traditional African religions. Additionally, prominent mythic figures including heroes and legendary creatures may also be included in this list.
The Benin ivory mask is a miniature sculptural portrait in ivory of Idia, the first Iyoba (Queen Mother) of the 16th century Benin Empire, taking the form of a traditional African mask. [1] The masks were looted by the British from the palace of the Oba of Benin in the Benin Expedition of 1897 .
African traditional religion is inextricably linked to the culture of the African people. In Africa religion has been understood as an integral part of life in which every aspect was knit together into a coherent system of thought and action, giving significance and meaning and providing abiding and satisfying values.
Mask from Gabon Two Chiwara c. late 19th early 20th centuries, Art Institute of Chicago.Female (left) and male, vertical styles. Most African sculpture from regions south of the Sahara was historically made of wood and other organic materials that have not survived from earlier than a few centuries ago, while older pottery figures are found from a number of areas.
The masks can be worn in three different ways: vertically covering the face: as helmets, encasing the entire head, and as a crest, resting upon the head, which was commonly covered by material as part of the disguise. African masks often represent a spirit and it is strongly believed that the spirit of the ancestors possesses the wearer.