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Stories Shape the World, and Africans Must Tell Their Own Stories.
Stories shape the world, and you probably already know this. Behind every great movement led by people was a proportionately great story. The very famous proverb by one of Africa’s best storytellers, Chinua Achebe, explains this perfectly. He said that ‘until the lion learns how to write, the tale of the hunt will always glorify…
Fang Reliquary Mask (Ngil): Guardians of Ancestral Bones in Gabon
The Ngil mask of the Fang people was used by secret societies to guard reliquaries and enforce social order. Discover its haunting beauty and purpose.
African Mask Meaning, Symbolism, And History
New: the 2nd edition of Within Carved Lines: The Secret Meanings of African Masks is out now. Get the book → Search “African mask” right now and you will get the same photograph forty times over. A dark wooden face. A caption calling it tribal art. Nothing about who carved it, why, or what actually…
Where African Masks Are Traditionally Kept and Why
An African mask was never meant to exist everywhere. In traditional African societies, masks were carefully placed, moved, and stored according to clear cultural rules. These rules were not arbitrary. They reflected deep understandings of space, function, timing, and social order. This article explains where African masks were traditionally kept, why those locations mattered, and…
