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Another common subject of African masks is a woman's face, usually based on a specific culture's ideal of feminine beauty. Female masks of the Punu people of Gabon, for example, have long curved eyelashes, almond-shaped eyes, thin chin, and traditional ornaments on their cheeks, as all these are considered good-looking traits. [17]
Pictographs traced to be older than twenty-five thousand years old show humans wearing masks of animals but, like many other masks from this era, these masks were believed to be made of bio-gradable material and unable to stand the test of time. [11] Masks for current ceremonies include those of the Dogon Tribe. The Dogon Masks are made of wood.
[3] [11] The thirteenth edition of the festival was held from February 27 to March 5, 2016, and featured masks from over 50 communities from six West African countries: Burkina Faso, Benin, Ivory Coast, Mali, Senegal, and Togo. [2] [12] ASAMA estimated 100,000 people attended the event, [2] including more than 2,000 international tourists. [12]
Many types of masks are used by the Northern Edo. Like most masks created in Africa, it represents the presence of a spirit. The intention behind an African mask is not to depict something realistic or naturalistic, as the African ideal aspires to capture the essence of the spirit represented. Therefore, abstraction and distortion are often seen.
Africa Explores: 20th-Century African Art. Center for African Art, 1994. Woodward, Richard B. African Art: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. The Museum, 2000. Roberts, Allen F., et al. Animals in African Art: from the Familiar to the Marvelous. The Museum for African Art, 1995. "Baga - Art & Life in Africa - The University of Iowa Museum of Art."
The Woyo masks are typically made out of wood, and painted with contrasting colors, often in dots. The colors used had symbolic meaning and were sometimes repainted, symbolizing rebirth, or to restore the power of the mask. [1] They were worn in ceremonial dances known as the ndunga. They are also decorated with sacred objects known as nkissi. [2]
The culture of Burkina Faso in West Africa is also called the Burkinabé culture. Two key elements of culture in Burkina Faso (a country once known as Upper Volta) are its indigenous masks and dancing. The masks used in this region of the western Sahel are made for rites of sacrifice to gods and animal spirits in the villages. Native dance, on ...
These masks showcase an ideal image of an Igbo maiden. This ideal is made up by the smallness of a young girl’s features and the whiteness of her complexion, which is an indication that the mask is a spirit. This whiteness is created using a chalk substance used for ritually marking the body in both West Africa and the African Diaspora.