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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 ...
Mapiko masks are worn during the rites of passage of circumcised boys. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] These wooden masks have been carved by master craftsmen, [ 3 ] made of soft wood and sometimes feature human hair. They represent human heads and may feature labrets or scarifications.
Often strips of raffia, which are pieces of fiber from the raffia palm, are attached to the mask. The white color of these masks is associated with things like the spirits of ancestors, death, and male virility or manhood. [2] Most Ngil masks are an oval shape featuring a broad forehead with an elongated chin and nose.
When the owner of a mask dies the mask may be passed on to his son, or it may be retired to the lineage spirit house where it slowly decays. Years later a diviner may prescribe a new mask in the same form, and the old mask is taken to the local smith who produces a replacement. Then, such old masks often are sold on the antiquities market.
In the Chokwe people of Central Africa, the chikunga is a sacred ceremonial mask. Of the many ceremonial masks, the chikunga is considered to be the most powerful, and it is only worn by the tribal chief. The chikunga mask is made by stretching barkcloth over an array of wicker bits. It then is painted black with red and white designs.
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The features of the mask illustrate the group's ideal of feminine beauty. The elegant hairstyles also symbolize the importance of social cooperation, since a woman needs the help of her friends to dress her hair. [3] The Mende honor outstanding carvers of sowei masks, which are typically men, with the name Sowo Gande. According to Philips, the ...