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Traditional African masks. Traditional African masks are worn in ceremonies and rituals across West, Central, and Southern Africa. They are used in events such as harvest celebrations, funerals, rites of passage, weddings, and coronations. Some societies also use masks to resolve disputes and conflicts.
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 .
Direct images of African deities are relatively infrequent, but masks in particular are or were often made for traditional African religious ceremonies; today many are made for tourists as "airport art". [2] African masks were an influence on European Modernist art, which was inspired by their lack of concern for naturalistic depiction.
African masks often represent a spirit and it is strongly believed that the spirit of the ancestors possesses the wearer. Most African masks are made with wood, and can be decorated with: Ivory, animal hair, plant fibers (such as raffia), pigments (like kaolin), stones, and semi-precious gems also are included in the masks.
2022. The Festival International des Masques et des Arts (International Festival of Masks and the Arts), or FESTIMA, is a cultural festival celebrating traditional African masks held in Dédougou, Burkina Faso. [1] Founded to help preserve traditional cultural practices in the modern age, FESTIMA features masks and traditions from several West ...
e. Benin art is the art from the Kingdom of Benin [1] or Edo Empire (1440–1897), a pre-colonial African state located in what is now known as the Southern region of Nigeria. [2] Primarily made of cast bronze and carved ivory, Benin art was produced mainly for the court of the Oba of Benin – a divine ruler for whom the craftsmen produced a ...
The Woyo masks are typically made out of wood, and painted with contrasting colors, often in dots and the colors used had symbolic meaning and were even 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 ...
Female (left) and male Vertical styles. A Chiwara (also Chi wara, Ci Wara, or Tyi Wara; Bambara: ciwara; French: tchiwara) is a ritual object representing an antelope, used by the Bambara ethnic group in Mali. The Chiwara initiation society uses Chiwara masks, as well as dances and rituals associated primarily with agriculture, to teach young ...