Essay

African masks

For this essay I have chosen to write about African masks. I have chosen to write about this as I don’t know much about it and want to learn more about it.

“In the early 20th Century, artists like Pablo Picasso and Andre Derain were inspired by the bold abstract designs that they discovered in African tribal masks. They collected and used these works of art to influence their own style. In effect, they used African culture to refresh the tired tradition of figure painting in Western Art.

As a result, we now tend to admire the bold design and abstract patterns of African masks through European eyes. We appreciate them as exhibits on museum walls, cut off from their original meaning and magical power. However, this is not how they were designed to be viewed.

African masks should be seen as part of a ceremonial costume. They are used in religious and social events to represent the spirits of ancestors or to control the good and evil forces in the community. They come to life, possessed by their spirit in the performance of the dance, and are enhanced by both the music and atmosphere of the occasion. Some combine human and animal features to unite man with his natural environment. This bond with nature is of great importance to the African and through the ages masks have always been used to express this relationship.” Taken from

http://www.artyfactory.com/africanmasks/information/african-mask-functions.htm  “The function of an African mask”

“Picasso's African Period, which lasted from 1906 to 1909, was the period when Pablo Picasso painted in a style which was strongly influenced by African sculpture and particularly traditional African masks.” Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picasso%27s_African_Period   “Picasso’s African period

This is Pablo Picassos artwork of "head of a woman" 1907 which was inspired by African art. Picasso's African Period lasted from 1907 to 1909.
I cant seem to find much information about this picture.
By the looks of it, it is an oil painting of a woman. The woman's face looks and reminds of an African masks on the drawing the woman has quite a big pointy nose, a long face, quite big eyes and short brown hair. The focal point of this image would be the face.
I think the drawing is quite weird and I don't really like it.

This is a drawing of 5 people. The two people on the far right are wearing African masks or have faces resembling African masks where as the other three have normal faces.

This is “Les Demoiselles D’Avigon” The two people on the far right of the picture are the beginnings of Picasso’s African period. Picasso would look towards African artworks as inspiration for some of his work his interests was sparked by Henri Matisse who showed him a mask from the Dan people of Africa.

Masks are made to fit a certain role or represent something like “the person who wears a ritual mask conceptually loses his or her human identity and turns into the spirit represented by the mask itself” This is why some masks have certain shapes and features to the mask itself.

Quote taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_African_masks “Ritual and social meaning”

Masks have played a big part in history by guiding and helping us understand more about being human. “Masks in various forms (sacred, practical, or playful) have played a crucial historical role in the development of understandings about "what it means to be human", because they permit the imaginative experience of "what it is like" to be transformed into a different identity (or to affirm an existing social or spiritual identity). Not all cultures have known the use of masks, but most of them have.” Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mask#History “History”

Masks as old as 9,000 years have been found and are being held by the “Musée "Bible et Terre Sainte”  and “Israel Museum “.

It is believed that the earliest masks where used in Africa was before the Palaeolithic era. African culture has used asks in rituals from the earliest days of civilisation. These masks are made to represent spirits of animals, mythological heroes, moral values, ancestors or a form of honouring a person is a symbolic way. Masks can be made from many materials like wood, copper, leather, metal and fabric. But mostly the masks are made from wood. Details on the masks are made from animal teeth, bones and horns, hair, feathers, seashells, straw and eggs shells.  The paint you see on some masks are made all naturally the paint is ochre which is a natural earth pigment which ranges in colour from yellow to a dark deep orange or brown colour.

African masks are made mostly shaped as a human face or a muzzle of some animal.  Animals are a frequent theme of African art of mask making, they represent the spirit of an animal and the person who wears the mask would become that animal himself which would allow that person to communicate with that animal. This is so they can ask that certain animal to stay away from the village. Animals are a symbol of virtue. Most masks made will be buffalo, hyena, crocodile, hawk and antelope. The one animal mask which is widely used would be the antelope mask.  “It symbolizes agriculture and is worn to enable better crops. Horns represent growth of millet, legs roots of the plants while ears represent songs that women sing in the harvest time.” Taken from http://www.historyofmasks.net/mask-history/history-of-african-masks/

Whereas human shaped masks represent things to like masks representing patience and calmness have half-closed eyes, one having a small mouth and eyes represents humility. Masks that represent wisdom have a wide bulging forehead. Masks with a large chin represent power and strength.

This picture was taken of Google of a Punu mask. This is an African mask from the Punu tribe of Cameroon, Gabon. Another common subject of African masks is a woman’s face which is based on specific cultures ideal of feminine beauty. The female masks of the Punu people in Gabon have almond shaped eyes, curved eyelashes, thin chin and traditional ornaments on their cheeks. The picture is an African mask. You can tell from details that the mask is based on a females face as it has the female features described above. When reading about the masks I read that the Punu masks are made by men and no one else is allowed to see the mask until it has been completely finished.  These were considered good looking traits.  “One of the well-known representations of female beauty is the Idea mask of Benin. It is believed to have been commissioned by a king of Benin in memory of his mother. To honor his dead mother, the king wore the mask on his hip during special ceremonies” Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_African_masks  “Feminine beauty”

This picture is of Burkina Faso’s Festival of masks. Burkina Faso is a country located in West Africa. This is where dances are preformed day and night and it is said the person wearing the mask embodies the spirit of the mask they wear. Villages that live around Bobo-Dioulasso hold masks festival giving people the opportunity to show of new masks to awaiting villagers. The last phase of the festival involves straw covered men like the one in the picture. Athletic dancers representing evil spirits with every stunt they do the crowd is driven into an energy filled screaming frenzy. There are three straw covered men and they all try to outdo each other in the end of the festival the good and evil spirits mix dancing alone or in matched or mixed pairs. The picture shows a person stood wearing a black and red mask with white on it. You cannot see any of the body as it’s covered in a dark orangey brown straw. You can see people in the back ground.

This is a picture of an African animal mask that I have got of Google. The animal the mask represents is an elephant as you can see this by looking at the picture as they have a trunk which isn’t that long as the tusks on either side f the trunk is longer than the actual trunk. By the looks of it the mask is made from wood no other materials have been used you can see where details have been added which would be around the eyes in the middle of the mask and the ears. There are loads of little lines I think they are there on the mask to make it look like a more realistic mask. On the masks there’s no colour to it it’s just a plain brown whereas other animal masks have a splash of colour to them. On parts of the mask it goes to a darker brown even black in some parts. As I said at the beginning of the essay people would wear these masks so that they could communicate with any animal of their choice to mostly warn the animal to stay away from the village.

From researching about the African masks I now know a lot more than I did when I started the essay. I now know about some masks and the meanings behind them, why they wear the masks and looking at the different kinds of masks and how they communicate with the dead. I do find some of the masks that I looked at ugly and creepy but now know the meanings behind them and that they all have a purpose. What I did enjoy reading about was the rituals and how they communicate with the dead it does sound mad and hard to believe when reading about it.