Facts About African Masks: Twenty That Are Actually Specific
Not the same recycled eight sentences. Twenty specific, checkable facts about African masks, from bite bar wear to what Britain took in 1897.
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Landuman Masks: One Mask, Three Guesses at What Animal It Is
New: the 2nd edition of Within Carved Lines: The Secret Meanings of African Masks is out now. Get the book → Most masking traditions documented in this book maintain a whole wardrobe of mask types, each built for a distinct spirit, rite, or society. The Landuman of Guinea are known to use exactly one: the…
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Congo Masks: The Mask Traditions of the Congo Basin, People by People
Kuba, Songye, Lega, Hemba, Yombe. A guide to Congo masks, what each tradition was built to do, and how to tell them apart on sight.
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We Masks: A People Whose Name Means Forgiveness Carved Faces Built to Terrify
New: the 2nd edition of Within Carved Lines: The Secret Meanings of African Masks is out now. Get the book → Several masking traditions documented in this book carry names that describe what a group does or where it lives. The We of Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia carry a name that describes something closer to…
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Types of African Masks: The Five Formats That Explain Almost Everything
Face, helmet, crest, shoulder, structure. The five types of African masks, what each one was for, and how to tell which you are holding.
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Zombo Masks: A Broken-Away Kingdom’s Fetish Figures and Charged Gongs
New: the 2nd edition of Within Carved Lines: The Secret Meanings of African Masks is out now. Get the book → Several masking traditions documented in this book describe communities whose fortunes rose and fell with outside trade. Few trace that arc as cleanly as the Zombo, who broke away from the Kongo kingdom in…
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Yoruba Scarification: Reading the Ila Lines That Named a Person
Abaja, pele, keke. Yoruba scarification was a document worn on the face. What the ila lines recorded, and why the practice stopped.
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Boa Masks: The War Face Whose Actual Job No One Can Agree On
New: the 2nd edition of Within Carved Lines: The Secret Meanings of African Masks is out now. Get the book → Most masking traditions documented in this book carry at least a working consensus on what their masks were for, even when the deeper symbolism stays contested. The Boa of the northern Democratic Republic of…
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What Are African Masks Made Of? The Materials Behind the Meaning
Wood, brass, ivory, hide, cowries and kaolin. What African masks are made of tells you who made them, for whom, and whether they ever danced.
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Vuvi Masks: A Mask for Every Spirit, a Name for Every Mask
New: the 2nd edition of Within Carved Lines: The Secret Meanings of African Masks is out now. Get the book → Many masking traditions documented in this book treat individual masks as interchangeable instances of a single type. The Vuvi of central Gabon organized theirs differently: each bwiti association mask apparently carried its own specific…
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Nigerian Masks: The Masquerade Traditions Almost Nobody Can Name
Ijele, Agbogho Mmuo, Gelede, Egungun, Ekpo. A working guide to Nigerian masks, who made them and what each masquerade was built to do.
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Mano Masks: The Mask, Not the Man, Performs the Ritual
New: the 2nd edition of Within Carved Lines: The Secret Meanings of African Masks is out now. Get the book → Several masking traditions documented in this book draw a sharp line between the performer and the thing performed. Few state it as directly as the Mano of Liberia and southernmost Guinea, whose masks represent…
